happy

adj

1. Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, such as comfort, peace, or tranquillity; blissful, contented, joyous.

   “Music makes me feel happy.”

   “Happye are thy men, and happie are these thy seruantes[…]”

   “Happy is that people that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”

   “For the moſt happy univerſe is not one that conſiſts of the greateſt poſſible number of the moſt happy beings only ;[…]”

   “Whate’er the Paſſion, Knowledge, Fame, or Pelf, Not one will change his Neighbour with himſelf. The Learn’d are happy, Nature to explore ; The Fool is happy, that he knows no more ; The Rich are happy in the plenty given ; The Poor contents him with the Care of Heaven.”

2. Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky.

   “[…] I think I may presume that what I have hitherto Diſcourſed will induce you to think, that Chymists have been much more happy in finding Experiments than the Cauſes of them; or in aſſigning the Principles by which they may beſt be explain’d.”

   “"Historians, you think," said Miss Tilney, "are not happy in their flights of fancy. They display imagination without raising interest. […]"”

3. (archaic)Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky.

   “How fares it with the happy dead?”

4. Content, willing, satisfied (with or to do something); having no objection (to something).

   “Are you happy to pay me back by the end of the week?”

   “Yes, I am happy with the decision.”

   “A Christian may be happier in low circumstances, than in high ones. He may be happier without rich friends, than with them. He may be happier in loneliness, than in a crowd of flatterers. He may be happier under reproach, than when riding on the spring-tide of popularity. He may be happier with hard work, than in a life of ease. He may be happier with coarse and scanty food, than with tables of luxury. He may be happier in sickness and persecution, than in health and quietness.”

   “A strong acid is also a substance whose conjugate base (obviously a weak base) is quite happy with the excess electrons it got from that bond.”

5. (usually)Bringing or being an instance of favourable fortune; apt, felicitous, fortunate, propitious.

   “happy coincidence”

   “The common privilege of your ſex affords you the happy opportunity of alleviating your ſorrows by communicating your ſentiments and feelings to some faithful friend; but to women, even this relief is rigidly denied, and, bound by the harſh reſtraints which the delicacy and reſerve of female natures have impoſed, I muſt bear the ſecret of my ſorrows with painful ſilence.”

   “You would, even by this most favourable result, be at best only replaced in the situation, and restored to the happy opportunity which you at present possess:[…]”

   “When happy events coincide, that is a happy coincidence. But the coincidence of baneful events is a happy coincidence too.”

   “‘I had the happy notion of adding an egg,’ Williams shouted back. ‘It poaches in the soup. Not unlike an Italian stracciatella. Singularly toothsome.[…]’”

6. (in-compounds)Favoring or inclined to use.

   “slaphappy, trigger-happy”

   “We live in a sue-happy society. If Santa slides off your roof and busts his tailbone, he could sue you, and probably will.”

   ““Baby, I was a loser / Several years on the dole / An Englishman with a very high voice / Doing rock ’n’ roll,” sings falsetto-happy frontman Justin Hawkins at the start of “Every Inch Of You,” Hot Cakes’ opener.”

7. (often, rare)Dexterous, ready, skilful.

   “For inſtance, one lady can give an anſwer better than aſk a queſtion: one gentleman is happy at a reply; another excels in a rejoinder: one can revive a languiſhing converſation by a ſudden ſurpriſing ſentence; another is more dextrous in ſeconding; a third can fill the gap with laughing, or commending what has been ſaid.”

8. Implying “May you have a happy ⁓” or similar; used in phrases to wish someone happiness or good fortune at the time of a festival, celebration, or other event or activity.

   “Happy birthday!”

   “Happy Fourth of July!”

   “Happy anniversary!”

   “Happy job-hunting!”

noun

1. (informal, rare)A happy event, thing, person, etc.

   “The strike split the Chicano community. Many workers at Farah crossed picket lines and continued to keep the plant operating. They were known as the "happies" because they wore buttons which featured a smiling face and the slogan, "I'm happy at Farah. …"”

verb

1. (informal, intransitive)Often followed by up: to become happy; to brighten up, to cheer up.

   “Whenever I started drinking again after abstaining for any period of time, it usually was an effort to relieve stress and to "happy up."”

   “[H]e smiled […] then asked my name. He checked it against his clipboard then sadly shook his head as if he'd been rejected himself. Told him I was looking for employment and he happied up again, able to help by directing me to apply at the front office, that the doors were on the Gower Street side.”

2. (informal, transitive)Often followed by up: to make happy; to brighten, to cheer, to enliven.

   “People really didn't want their Party Motivators in their photos, anonymous dancers, happying up the place. It spooked them.”

   “[…] [William] Glasser would probably say that happy people are "happying" themselves by choosing behaviors that help them to feel happy (working at their relationships, engaging in productive work activities, participating in desired recreational activities, etc.).”

name

1. (countable, uncountable)A male given name.
2. (countable, uncountable)A surname transferred from the nickname.
3. (countable, uncountable)A place in the United States:
4. (countable, uncountable)A place in the United States:
5. (countable, uncountable)A place in the United States:
6. (countable, uncountable)A place in the United States: