happiness

English

Alternative forms

happinesse (obsolete)
happyness (obsolete)

Etymology

From happy +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈhæpinɪs/, /ˈhæpinəs/
Audio (US): (file)
Hyphenation: hap‧pi‧ness

Noun

happiness (countable and uncountable, plural happinesses)

(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.
(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.
(archaic, uncountable) Good luck; good fortune.
- c. 1590–1591 (date written), 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, [Act I, scene i], page 20, column 2:
  All happineſſe bechance to thee in Millaine.
(obsolete, countable) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace; — used especially of language.
- 1709, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W. Lewis […], published 1711, →OCLC, 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

Derived terms

Translations

emotion of being happy

Afrikaans: geluk (af)
Albanian: lumturi (sq) f
Arabic: سَعَادَة f (saʕāda), فَرَح (ar) (faraḥ)
Armenian: երջանկություն (hy) (erǰankutʻyun)
Asturian: felicidá f
Avar: талихӏ (taliḥʳ)
Azerbaijani: xoşbəxtlik, səadət
Bashkir: бәхет (bəxet)
Belarusian: шча́сце n (ščáscje)
Bengali: সুখ (bn) (śukh)
Bulgarian: ща́стие (bg) n (štástie)
Burmese: သုခ (my) (su.hka.)
Catalan: felicitat (ca) f
Cebuano: kalipay
Chinese:
Literary: 福 (fú), 礽 (réng), 祉 (zhǐ)

Mandarin: 幸福 (zh) (xìngfú), 快樂／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)
Guaraní: vy'a (gn)
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)
Ingrian: onni, ilo
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)
Kabuverdianu: filisidadi
Kazakh: бақыт (baqyt)
Khmer: សុភមង្គល (km) (sophĕəʼmŭəngkŭəl), កាមសុខ (km) (kaamĕəʼsok), បរមសុខ (paʼraʼmaʼsok), បាមោជ្ជ (km) (paamaoccĕəʼ), បីតិ (km) (pəyteʼ), ប្រមោទ (km) (prɑmaot), ប្រីតា (km) (prəytaa)
Korean: 행복 (ko) (haengbok), 기쁨 (ko) (gippeum), 즐거움 (ko) (jeulgeoum), 희열 (ko) (huiyeol), 열락 (yeollak)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: bextewerî (ku), seadet (ku)
Kyrgyz: бакыт (ky) (bakıt)
Lao: ຄວາມສຸກ (lo) (khuām suk)
Latgalian: laime
Latin: laetitia f, gaudium n, felicitas f
Latvian: laime (lv) f
Lithuanian: laimė (lt)
Luxembourgish: Gléck n
Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост f (radost)
Malay: kebahagiaan, kegembiraan
Malayalam: സന്തോഷം (ml) (santōṣaṁ), ആഹ്ലാദം (ml) (āhlādaṁ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṁ)
Maltese: feliċita f
Maori: uruhautanga, hurō
Mauritian Creole: jos, lazwa
Middle English: wynne
Mongolian: аз жаргал (az žargal)
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 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 (baꭓt)
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), بەختلىك (bextlik), دىلشاتلىق (dilshatliq), ھالاۋەت (halawet)
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
Ingrian: onni, lykky
Italian: gioia (it) f, felicità (it) f
Japanese: 幸運 (ja) (kōun)
Korean: 행운 (ko) (haeng'un)
Latin: fēlīcitās f
Latvian: laime (lv) f
Lithuanian: laimė (lt) m
Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), коб f (kob)
Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṁ)
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)
Vietnamese: may mắn (vi), phúc (vi)

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
Korean: 즐거움 (ko) (jeulgeoum), 기쁨 (ko) (gippeum), 만족 (ko) (manjok), 충족 (chungjok), 열락 (yeollak)
Latvian: laime (lv) f
Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост f (radost)
Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṁ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṁ)
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. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: ^{(please verify)} سَعَادَة f (saʕāda)
Bengali: ^{(please verify)} সুখ (bn) (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 (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 f
Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} sreća f
Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} sreća f, ^{(please verify)} срећа f
Slovene: ^{(please verify)} sreča (sl) f
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} glädje (sv), ^{(please verify)} lycka (sv)

References

“happiness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.