happiness

English

Etymology

From happy +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhæpinɪs/, /ˈhæpinəs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hap‧pi‧ness

Noun

happiness (countable and uncountable, plural happinesses)

2. (uncountable) The emotion of being happy; joy.
   • 1877, W. S. Gilbert, The Sorcerer

     Yes, Aline, true happiness comes of true love, and true love should be independent of external influences.

3. (archaic, uncountable) prosperity, thriving, wellbeing.
   • 1776, United States Declaration of Independence

     We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

4. (archaic, uncountable) Good luck; good fortune.
   • c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i], page 20, column 2:

     All happineſſe bechance to thee in Millaine.

5. (obsolete, countable) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace; — used especially of language.
   • 1709, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W. Lewis […], published 1711, OCLC 15810849, page 10:

     Some Beauties yet, no Precepts can declare, / For there's a Happineſs as well as Care.

Usage notes

Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every kind of enjoyment.

Synonyms

• felicity (somewhat dated or formal)
• blessedness (dated or religious)
• bliss (more exalted delight, suggesting heaven)
• high spirits
• joy, joyfulness, joyousness
• pleasure

Antonyms

• unhappiness
• haplessness
• suffering

Derived terms

• bluebird of happiness

Translations

emotion of being happy

• Afrikaans: geluk (af)
• Albanian: lumturi (sq) f
• Arabic: سَعَادَة‎ f (saʿāda)
• Armenian: երջանկություն (hy) (erǰankutʿyun)
• Asturian: felicidá f
• Avar: талихӏ (taliḥ)
• Azerbaijani: xoşbəxtlik, səadət
• Bashkir: бәхет (bäxet)
• Belarusian: шча́сце n (ščáscje)
• Bengali: সুখ (śukh)
• Bulgarian: ща́стие (bg) n (štástie)
• Burmese: သုခ (my) (su.hka.)
• Catalan: felicitat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Literary: 福 (fú), 礽 (réng), 祉 (zhǐ)

  Mandarin: 幸福 (zh) (xìngfú), 快樂 (zh), 快乐 (zh) (kuàilè), 愉快 (zh) (yúkuài)

• Czech: štěstí (cs) n
• Danish: lykke (da) c, glæde c
• Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n, vreugde (nl) f
• Esperanto: feliĉeco
• Estonian: õnn (et)
• Farefare: pupeelum
• Faroese: gleði f
• Finnish: onnellisuus (fi), onni (fi), ilo (fi), riemu (fi)
• French: bonheur (fr) m
• Galician: felicidade (gl) f
• Georgian: ბედნიერება (bedniereba)
• German: Glück (de) n, Glücklichkeit (de) f
• Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía)

  Ancient: εὐδαιμονία f (eudaimonía)

• Hawaiian: hauʻoli
• Hebrew: אושר \ אֹשֶׁר‎ (he) m ('ósher)
• Hindi: ख़ुशी f (xuśī)
• Hungarian: boldogság (hu)
• Hunsrik: Glick n
• Icelandic: gleði (is) f, hamingja (is) f
• Ido: feliceso (io)
• Indonesian: kebahagiaan (id)
• Ingush: ираз (iraz)
• Irish: sonas m, suáilceas m
• Italian: felicità (it) f, gioia (it) f
• Japanese: 幸福 (ja) (こうふく, kōfuku), 幸せ (ja) (しあわせ, shiawase), 愉快 (ja) (ゆかい, yukai)
• Kazakh: бақыт (baqıt)
• Khmer: សុភមង្គល (km) (sophĕəʼmŭəngkŭəl), កាមសុខ (km) (kaamĕəʼsok), បរមសុខ (paʼraʼmaʼsok), បាមោជ្ជ (km) (paamaoccĕəʼ), បីតិ (km) (pəyteʼ), ប្រមោទ (km) (prɑmaot), ប្រីតា (km) (prəytaa)
• Korean: 행복(幸福) (ko) (haengbok)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bextewerî (ku), seadet (ku)

• Kyrgyz: бакыт (ky) (baqıt)
• Lao: ຄວາມສຸກ (lo) (khuām suk)
• Latgalian: laime
• Latin: laetitia f, gaudium n, felicitas f
• Latvian: laime f
• Lithuanian: laimė (lt)
• Luxembourgish: Gléck n
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост f (radost)
• Malay: kebahagiaan, kegembiraan

• Malayalam: സന്തോഷം (ml) (santōṣaṃ), ആഹ്ലാദം (āhlādaṃ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṃ)
• Maltese: feliċita f
• Maori: uruhautanga, hurō
• Mauritian Creole: jos, lazwa
• Middle English: wynne
• Mongolian: аз жаргал (az jargal)
• Navajo: ił hózhǫ́
• Northern Sami: illu
• Norwegian: lykke (no) m, glede (no) m

  Nynorsk: lukke

• Occitan: felicitat (oc) f, bonaür (oc)
• Old East Slavic: съчастиѥ n (sŭčastije)
• Old English: bliss (ang) f, ġefēa m
• Old Norse: gleði f
• Pashto: خوشبختي‎ (ps) f (xošbaxtí), سعادت‎ (ps) m (sa'ādát)
• Persian: خوشبختی‎ (fa) (xošbaxti), شادی‎ (fa) (šâdi), سعادت‎ (fa) (sa'âdat)
• Plautdietsch: Freid f, Häaj f
• Polish: szczęście (pl) n, radość (pl) f
• Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
• Quechua: kusi
• Romani: baxt f
• Romanian: bucurie (ro) f, fericire (ro) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
• Sanskrit: सुख (sa) n (sukhá)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сре̏ћа f

  Roman: srȅća (sh) f

• Shor: ырыс (ırıs)
• Sinhalese: සන්තෝෂය (santōṣaya)
• Slovak: šťastie n, radosť f
• Slovene: sreča (sl) f
• Spanish: felicidad (es) f
• Swahili: raha (sw)
• Swedish: lycka (sv) c, glädje (sv) c, fröjd (sv) c
• Tabasaran: бахт (baχt)
• Tagalog: kaligayahan, ligaya (tl)
• Tajik: бахт (baxt), саодат (saodat), шодӣ (tg) (šodī), хушбахтӣ (tg) (xušbaxtī)
• Tamil: மகிழ்ச்சி (ta) (makiḻcci), சந்தோஷம் (ta) (cantōṣam)
• Tatar: бәхет (tt) (bäxet), сәгадәть (sägadät’), сәгадәт (tt) (sägadät)
• Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṁ)
• Thai: ความสุข (th) (kwaam-sùk)
• Tibetan: བདེ་བ (bde ba)
• Turkish: mutluluk (tr), saadet (tr)
• Turkmen: bagt (tk), şatlyk, eýgilik
• Tuvan: аас-кежик (aas-kejik)
• Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), ра́дість f (rádistʹ)
• Urdu: خوشی‎ f (xuśī), سعادت‎ (ur) f (sa'ādat)
• Uyghur: بەخت‎ (bext), خۇشاللىق‎ (xushalliq), سائادەت‎ (sa'adet)
• Uzbek: baxt (uz), chogʻlik (uz), xushbaxtlik (uz), saodat (uz)
• Venetian: ałegrézsa f, ałegrìa f
• Vietnamese: hạnh phúc (vi) (幸福)
• Walloon: bouneur (wa) m
• Welsh: hapusrwydd (cy)
• Yiddish: גליק‎ n (glik)

good luck

• Bulgarian: късмет (bg) m (kǎsmet)
• Czech: štěstí (cs) n
• Dutch: geluk (nl) n, fortuin (nl)
• Finnish: onni (fi), onnekkuus (fi)
• Greek: ευημερία (el) f (evimería), προκοπή (el) f (prokopí), ευπραγία (el) f (efpragía)
• Hungarian: szerencse (hu)
• Icelandic: lukka f
• Italian: gioia (it) f, felicità (it) f
• Japanese: 幸運 (ja) (kōun)

• Latvian: laime f
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), коб f (kob)
• Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṃ)
• Norwegian: hell (no) n
• Polish: szczęście (pl) n
• Portuguese: fortuna (pt) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča), везе́ние (ru) n (vezénije), фортуна (ru) f (fortuna)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
• Slovak: šťastie
• Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), уда́ча f (udáča), везі́ння n (vezínnja)

agreeable feeling

• Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n
• Finnish: onnellisuus (fi)
• Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía), χαρά (el) f (chará)
• Italian: felicità (it) f, allegria (it) f
• Latvian: laime f
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост f (radost)
• Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṃ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṃ)

• Maori: hurō
• Polish: szczęście (pl) n
• Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
• Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṁ)
• Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), ра́дість f (rádistʹ)

fortuitous elegance

• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa)

• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} سَعَادَة‎ f (saʿāda)
• Bengali: ^{(please verify)} সুখ (śukh)
• Cebuano: ^{(please verify)} kalipay
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} feliĉo
• French: ^{(please verify)} bonheur (fr) m
• German: ^{(please verify)} Fröhlichkeit (de) f, ^{(please verify)} Glück (de) n
• Kannada: ^{(please verify)} ಸುಖ (kn) (sukha), ^{(please verify)} ಸಂತೋಷ (kn) (santōṣa)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 행복 (ko) (haengbok)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} خۆشی‎ (ku) (xoşî)

• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} glede (no) m, ^{(please verify)} lykke (no) m
• Old English: ^{(please verify)} ēad n

• Persian: ^{(please verify)} خوشبختی‎ (fa) (xošbaxti)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} àigh m, ^{(please verify)} sonas m, ^{(please verify)} subhachas m, ^{(please verify)} toileachas m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} срећа f

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f, ^{(please verify)} срећа f
• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} sreča (sl) f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} glädje (sv), ^{(please verify)} lycka (sv)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} hạnh phúc (vi), ^{(please verify)} phúc (vi)

References

• “happiness” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Further reading

• Happiness (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• happiness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia