Word for state of being happy

Everyone defines the word happiness in their own way. What is your definition? Happiness is a state of mind which cannot be seen or cannot be sometimes even expressed it can only be felt. For some people happiness is wealth and fame and for some it is their family. Despite the meaning everyone has for it, Happiness does not occur by accident, it always has to be made, discovered or created.

People must have a tenet to be happy no matter how difficult events await them ahead. The quality of having gratitude, being thankful is an approach that people of every culture use to cultivate happiness. There are small things which when incorporated into our daily lives, can lead us to the path of happiness. For instance, instead of thinking about problems, we should actually be thinking about the solutions.

Happiness is not what you feel from outside, rather it is something which comes from your inner soul. We should find happiness in us rather than searching for it in worldly desires.

Content Joyful Joyous Blissful Glad
Thrilled Elated Jovial Cheerful Pleased
Jolly Earthly happiness Radiant happiness Consequent happiness Ecstatic
Infinite Satisfied Amused Felicitous Buoyant
Blithe Chuffed Gleeful Optimistic Tenet
Gratitude Cultivate Incorporate Exuberance Jouissance
Delectation Beatitude Elation Gaiety Merriment
Jubilation Enjoy Euphoric Ecstasy Beaming
Genial Fortunate Zestful Humorous Bland
Hilarious Overwhelmed Epicurean Sensuous Sanguine

Bring happiness and soulful life to yourself rather than expecting it from the outside world like things, money, etc. Stay happy and try to keep others happy as well.

Be happy and spread happiness through your daily actions.

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We can be happy when we’re pleased with how something has gone or a certain event in our life. We can be sad when something bad has happened that’s made us feel inadequate or down. However, did you know some words mean you can experience both at the same time?

What Word Is Best To Describe The Feeling Of Being Happy And Sad At The Same Time?

Bittersweet is the best word to describe the feeling of being happy and sad at the same time. There are other choices, which we will cover, but bittersweet works perfectly to cover both emotions (“bitter” showing sadness and “sweet” showing happiness).

What Word Is Best To Describe The Feeling Of Being Happy And Sad At The Same Time?

We’ll cover the words in slightly more detail as we go through the article, but the words you’ll see are:

  • Bittersweet
  • Tragicomic
  • Rueful
  • Ambivalent
  • Emotional

Bittersweet

The Cambridge Dictionary can help us with the definition of “bittersweet.” It is used to mean something “containing a mixture of sadness and happiness.”

A person can feel bittersweet for several reasons, but it’s the perfect example of a word that shows the mixed emotions one feels when they’re going through a hard time in their life while also feeling happy about something.

Both happy and sad are contradicting emotions, but that doesn’t mean you’re not able to feel both of them simultaneously. In fact, it’s more of a common feeling than you might realize.

The bittersweet feeling you get when you’re happy about something can arise for a number of reasons, for example:

  • If you won an event by accidentally cheating or tarnishing the competitor’s chances somehow.
  • If you recently lost a loved one but came into some really good news.
  • If something positive happened to you and not your friend, but you really wished it happened to you both.

These are just some of the ways we can see bittersweet emotions in our lives. You’ve more than likely come across it once or twice, and it’s a difficult feeling to explain.

Tragicomic

The Cambridge Dictionary gives us a definition of tragicomedy as “a (type of) play or story that is both sad and funny.” This definition is extended to “tragicomic,” which means it relates to this same sensation you get from the play or story.

A situation often seems more tragicomic, rather than it being a direct emotional you feel. However, it’s still possible to experience a tragicomic emotion of some kind.

If you have a tragicomic feeling or sensation, it’s usually because you’re already sad for some reason, but you found something ridiculously funny. The other incident is where something is so sad you can’t help but laugh, and that laughter often helps ease your sadness a little.

It’s not the best synonym for bittersweet, but it’s definitely one of the more closely related words to it that we can use. It’s also a great word to include in your vocabulary should you ever feel the need to say it.

Not many people have heard of tragicomic as a word before, so you could impress a few people.

Rueful

The Cambridge Dictionary refers to “rueful” as “feeling sorry and wishing that something had not happened.” If you look at the example they provide, it shows someone giving a “rueful laugh,” and this shows that “rueful” is used mostly in a dry and humorous way.

Generally, if we’re writing the word “rueful” in text, it comes before words like “smile” or “laugh.” It’s used in a humorous way to show that we wished something didn’t have to happen the way that it did, but there’s nothing we can do now but laugh at the situation.

Sometimes, that same feeling is applicable to normal life. Say you’re at a funeral for a loved one, and you remember something funny that the two of you did together. Sure, you shouldn’t be laughing at a funeral, but now you’re so overcome with rueful emotion you don’t know what else to do.

That’s generally when we would use “rueful” as an emotion. It shows that we’re sorry or apologetic for an outcome, but we often have to laugh at either the outcome or ourselves before it sends us spiraling into despair.

Ambivalent

Here, The Cambridge Dictionary uses a great definition for the word “ambivalent.” It means “having two opposing feelings at the same time, or being uncertain about how you feel.”

While a feeling of ambivalence doesn’t strictly have to apply to happiness and sadness (it could be calmness and anger, for example), it works as a great synonym for bittersweet. In fact, it’s probably the best word on this list besides bittersweet that works as a way to show two contrasting emotions.

On top of that, it’s a great word to include in your vocabulary. Not many people are familiar with a word as powerful as this, and it will show how well you understand your meaning if you get a chance to use it.

A feeling of ambivalence can appear anywhere in life. We typically use it when we’re not able to process our emotions, leading us to a state where we’re not entirely sure which of the two opposing emotions we feel.

It creates this idea of emotional limbo, where we’re both happy and sad. Both of those emotions cancel each other out, almost making us feel empty, or in the case of the Cambridge definition, “uncertain.”

Emotional

The Cambridge Dictionary teaches us that “emotional” means “having and expressing strong feelings.” While this doesn’t strictly imply that two contradicting emotions are felt at the same time, it works well as an alternative nonetheless.

When somebody is emotional, it’s often too difficult for that person to process their emotions and talk to you about what they’re feeling.

Significant, life-changing events can lead someone to become emotional. Say, for example, you win a lot of money in a competition that will change your life forever. Most people actually cry when they hear this news, which is a common response to sadness.

It’s this exact situation that leads the word emotional to being a really good synonym for bittersweet. When you’re so overcome with emotion, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. If you hear bad news, you might laugh out loud; if you hear great news, you might cry happy tears. Either way, you’re so emotional that you don’t know what your body or brain is telling you!

All of the above words are an excellent way of saying you feel both happy and sad at the same time. It’s not a feeling you’ll come by often, but when you do, it’s helpful to have these words in your arsenal ready to use.

It also helps to expand your ability to write really impressive stories. If you’re able to have a strong handle on emotions in a novel, then people will be amazed at your writing skills and descriptive abilities.

Examples Of When You Can Feel Happy And Sad At The Same Time

While it’s great to know all of the words you can use to explain this feeling, that’s not enough. It’ll help if you also know when situations might occur that might lead you to feel bittersweet or ambivalent.

Graduating

Graduating is a huge event in any student’s life. It’s such a happy moment for most people because it means they’re turning over to the next page of their life and exploring new options.

However, graduation is often sad because it means saying goodbye to old friends and knowing that you most likely won’t see them again.

Changing Jobs

Just like graduation, changing a job in life is often seen as a huge milestone. If you’ve made the decision to further your career, then that will have a massive impact on your life and change you for the better. Usually, it’s a happy day.

However, it can be difficult to let go of the past. It can also be hard to say goodbye to colleagues, especially those that you consider friends. That’s what leads to these bittersweet moments in life.

Having A Baby

Having a baby is by far one of the most exciting and happy moments in any parent’s life. It’s the time to take on new responsibilities and start up a family with the people that you love.

However, having a baby also leads new parents to ask sad questions like whether they’re good enough to be a good parent or whether they’re right for the baby. This emotional back and forth leads to some serious bittersweet sensations.

Beating A Friend (Sporting Event)

Beating a friend in a competition is a great way to show that you’ve earned your spot in the podium position. However, we often want to encourage our friends to be the best versions of themselves and need to push each other to get there.

While beating a friend can be exciting and lead to happiness; you may also take away their own pride, which is an unhappy sensation at the same time. There’s a very fine balance between these things.

You may also like:

10 Better Ways To Say “Happy” In English

10 Words For Being Sad And Beautiful At The Same Time

martin lassen dam grammarhow

Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.

Word Groups — 33

Learn about words related to ‘feelings’ and ‘happiness’ and upgrade your vocabulary.

Group 1: Words related to feelings

Human beings have a whole gamut of emotions and feelings that they feel under different situations. This article explores 37 feelings, and you can use these words in future to describe your state.

  • Attraction: The action or power of evoking interest in or liking for some or something.
  • Affection: A gentle feeling of fondness and liking.
  • Agony: Extreme physical or mental suffering.
  • Amazement: A feeling of great surprise or wonder.
  • Anxiety: A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.
  • Bliss: Perfect happiness; great joy.
  • Bitterness: Anger or disappointment of being treated unfairly.
  • Compassion: Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
  • Contentment: A state of complete satisfaction.
  • Disenchanted: Disappointed by someone or something.
  • Dismay: Concern and distress caused by something unexpected.
  • Elation: Great happiness and exhilaration.
  • Enthralled: Captured the fascinated attention of.
  • Enraged: Very angry; furious.
  • Equanimity: Calmness and composure, especially during a difficult situation.
  • Euphoria: A feeling or a state of intense excitement and happiness.
  • Envious: A feeling of intense jealousy.
  • Furious: Extremely angry.
  • Gloomy: A feeling of dullness and depression.
  • Hopeless: A feeling of despair.
  • Humiliation: The act of making someone appear foolish by hurting their dignity and pride.
  • Hysteria: Exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement.
  • Insecurity: Uncertainty about oneself.
  • Jaded: Bored or lacking enthusiasm, typically after having too much of something.
  • Joviality: Cheerful and friendly.
  • Loathing: Intense hatred.
  • Modesty: The quality or state of being unassuming in the estimation of one’s abilities.
  • Mortification: Great embarrassment or shame.
  • Nirvana: (In Buddhism) a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karmas and the cycle of death and rebirth.
  • Ornery: Bad tempered.
  • Querulous: Complaining in a rather petulant or whining manner.
  • Repentance: Sincere regret or remorse.
  • Sardonic: Grimly mocking or cynical.
  • Spellbound: Hold complete attention of someone as though by magic.
  • Timidly: Showing a lack of courage or confidence.
  • Venal: Showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery; corruption.
  • Vivacious: Attractively lively and animated.

masterclass

Group 2: Words related to happiness

Who does not like to be happy? We all do but are there different types of being happy? Well, in fact, there are and this article illustrates 15 different happy moods that you can use for various situations.

Explore the list of words here:

  • Amused: To cause to laugh or smile by giving pleasure.
  • Blissful: Completely happy and contented.
  • Blithe: Very happy or cheerful; joyous.
  • Buoyant: Lively and lighthearted; chirpy.
  • Ecstatic: Feeling or showing great enthusiasm or delight.
  • Elated: Full of high spirits, joy, pride or optimism; very happy.
  • Enraptured: Delight beyond measure.
  • Euphoric: A feeling of great happiness or well-being.
  • Exhilarated: Feeling of happily refreshed and energetic; enliven, made joyful.
  • Gleeful: Full of high-spirited delight; joy or merry.
  • Jovial: Characterized by high-spirited merriment and good cheer.
  • Jubilant: Feeling or expressing great joy, satisfaction.
  • Rapturous: Full of, feeling, or manifesting ecstatic joy or delight.
  • Thrilled: Feeling intense pleasurable excitement.
  • Exuberant: Full of energy, excitement, and cheerfulness.

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Last updated:

December 6, 2022

Maybe you already know the most useful English idioms and slang.

And maybe you’re no longer making the most common ESL grammar mistakes.

In that case, one of the best ways to improve your English vocabulary is to learn new ways to say the most frequent words.

One of the most common words is probably “happy.”

You’re probably tired of saying “happy” by now.

When you’re done with this post, you’ll be able to impress your friends with how well you speak English.

Because you’re going to be able to tell people what kind of “happy” you are.

Like that special kind of “happy” you feel when you learn new words and their meanings with FluentU.

Give FluentU a free try and you’ll be able to talk about all kinds of happiness like natives do!

And now, without further ado – here is our advanced English vocabulary post on 16 kinds of happy. 


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Advanced English Vocabulary: 16 Kinds of Happy

The music in Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” lets you feel the definition of the word “happiness.” You don’t have to just rely on the lyrics. Happy is that upbeat feeling of contentment that seems to spread across your body. You smile. You want to be kind to strangers.  Your shoulders are relaxed.  Your hands are open.

Happy is the most common word for a positive emotion. What makes us happy though differs from person to person. The Internet show SoulPancake gets kids to talk about their feelings and what makes them happy. A pie of pie, sunshine, and a kiss seem to do the trick.

Happy as a feeling lends itself to lots of idioms:

Over the Moon

The phrase may have become popular from back-street Liverpool football games when player kicked the ball so hard that it appeared to go over the moon. Now that would make a fan happy. The phrase may have originated in the Mother Goose rhyme High Diddle Diddle when the cow jumped over the moon.

On Cloud Nine

Happiness on Cloud Nine probably came first from Buddhism. At the ninth level towards enlightenment, a being is said to live on a bright cloud where selfishness washes away. Dante gave a Christian version of Cloud Nine in Paradise: That’s the highest level before the place where the Divine (God) lives.

In Seventh Heaven

Seventh Heaven may come from Islamic and mystic Jewish traditions. The Divine and the angels are said to dwell in this seventh or highest level of heaven. Seven also is considered a lucky number. Being happy, of course, is lucky.

Tickled Pink

That’s pretty easy. When someone is tickling you, you laugh. Laughing makes your face turn pink.  A Ukrainian-American musician Jack Shaindlin wrote a fun little song called I’m Tickled Pink back in the 1940s. You can still hear it on Galaxy News Radio.

Jumping for Joy

Another easy one. You are so happy you literally jump up and down. Joy is something that springs from deep inside you. Even cows can jump for joy. Really. A German gif (short video that repeats itself) has been making the rounds on the Internet. U.S. National Public Radio shared the story of the cows so happy to be released outside that they literally spring into the air.

Walking on Air

So if you are going to jump, then you are going to end up walking on air. That’s exactly what Katy Perry ends up in doing in her song by the same name.

In Good Spirits

This idiom apparently comes from the 17th Century. It may be talking about alcohol spirits or it may be talking about connecting with happy positive ghosts. Either way, the idea is that you are happy because you got a hold of something good.

Australians sponsor a huge annual international competition for baristas (coffee makers) to combine coffee with alcohol. It’s called World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship. Competitors come from as far as Slovakia, Ecuador and Indonesia. They better be in good spirits after going all that way to make a drink.

Happy as a Clam

This one is just plain weird. How do you know if a clam is happy? Well, it turns out that this idiom is actually part of a longer sentence: Happy as a clam in high water. Clams seem to like high water when their shells are all covered, so maybe it is safe to say they are happy. Back in 1840, John Godfrey Saxe wrote the poem “Sonnet to a Clam.” He laments (is sad) that clams are reduced to boring similes (descriptions) and says he must write a song of their simple story. In my opinion, it sounds like old Saxe suffered from another idiom: Too much time on his hands.

Slap Happy

The last two idioms are not necessarily positive ones even if they are talking about being happy. Slap happy means you are tired, really tired. You are so tired that you are doing silly things, like slapping yourself.  Slap happy appears to come from boxers back in the 1920s who took one too many blows to the head and became confused from a head injury. Punch drunk means the same thing: You have been hit so many times that you are starting sound like you have been drinking too much alcohol.

Trigger Happy

You do not want to be called trigger happy. This means you like shooting your gun at people.  Sometimes it means you will shoot without paying attention to your target.  Worse yet, it means you get violent, with or without a gun, whenever someone bothers you the least little bit.

British Channel 4 came up with a play on words and called its comedy program Trigger Happy TV. There are no guns involved, just comedians making jokes very quickly and pulling pranks on unsuspecting people walking down the streets of London.

That’s enough idioms. Let’s look at good old-fashioned synonyms and alternatives for happy.

Let’s start with merry, as in Merry Christmas. It means exactly the same thing as happy, which is why you will sometimes hear the phrase in December, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” You could reverse the happy and merry but why break the habit. You could also go out for a beer (or a pint or a lemonade) with friends and say, “Let’s eat, drink, and be merry.”

Another phrase you might hear: “I’m delighted to meet you.” Delighted is a fancy way of saying happy. Delighted means “it gives great pleasure.” If you go to the trouble to say the word delighted, you probably are going bow your head slightly as you extend their hand to meet someone. This phrase is best used in very formal places. If you are a man, you should probably be wearing a tie if not a tuxedo.

Blessed is a religious version of happy. Blessed means favored by God, particularly in Christian traditions. It can be used as a title for someone nominated for sainthood in the Catholic Church. It can be in reference to something considered sacred, like the Blessed Trinity. Buddhist texts also advocate the 38 Blessings or important things for living a good life, such as being kind and being around wise people.  Happiness is the result of being blessed.

Radiant is a more physical term. You are so happy that you look like sunbeams are coming out of you. Radiant is not just simple happiness, but full-scale joy. You are shining like a light. Pregnant women are said to be radiant because they are so happy about the child growing inside them.

Ecstatic is most often used as an exaggeration of happy. Ecstatic means to be in a state of ecstasy. Now, ecstasy often has something to do with sex or illegal drugs. Ecstatic, however, does not. Usually it means you are super happy because you or a friend accomplished something. “I am ecstatic you got into medical school.”

Glee usually is a type of entertainment and comes most often in a song. Glee, the American television show on FOX, comes from a high school club for students who perform on stage and have a tendency to break into song just about anywhere. The idea is that the music makes them happy. It’s hard to not smile and be happy when watching them sing.

Now there you have it: 16 ways to be happy. Enjoy!


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[ hap-ee-nis ]

/ ˈhæp i nɪs /

See the most commonly confused word associated with

happiness

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.


noun

the quality or state of being happy.

good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

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Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

VIDEO FOR HAPPINESS

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Which sentence is correct?

Origin of happiness

First recorded in 1520–30; happy + -ness

synonym study for happiness

1, 2. Happiness, bliss, contentment, felicity imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction. Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good: the happiness of visiting one’s family. Bliss is unalloyed happiness or supreme delight: the bliss of perfect companionship. Contentment is a peaceful kind of happiness in which one rests without desires, even though every wish may not have been gratified: contentment in one’s surroundings. Felicity is a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind: to wish a young couple felicity in life.

OTHER WORDS FROM happiness

o·ver·hap·pi·ness, noun

Words nearby happiness

happen on, happen-so, happenstance, happi coat, happily, happiness, happy, happy as a clam, happy as the day is long, happy camper, happy-clappy

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to happiness

bliss, contentment, delight, elation, enjoyment, euphoria, exhilaration, glee, joy, jubilation, laughter, optimism, pleasure, prosperity, well-being, beatitude, blessedness, cheer, cheerfulness, content

How to use happiness in a sentence

  • Touch also increases levels of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin—the hormones related to happiness.

  • We hope you’ve been enjoying our wedding gift, the espresso machine, and we wish you many years of happiness together.

  • Researchers have argued for decades about whether certain facial expressions have evolved to express specific emotions, such as happiness, anger and disgust, regardless of one’s culture.

  • It’s spawned so many other indexes of human well-being — the index of social progress, people talking about gross national happiness.

  • This transition makes even more sense when coupled with the idea of deviating from using GDP as a measure of societal growth, and instead adopting a well-being index based on universal human values like health, community, happiness, and peace.

  • It is the summit of human happiness: the surrender of man to God, of woman to man, of several women to the same man.

  • The health, happiness and well-being of men, children and women improve.

  • He should be free, filling the world with happiness, love and his fighting spirit.

  • But she cautions against depending on getaways for happiness.

  • Their bright eyes and wide, happy smiles have spread a feeling of happiness and hope across the art world and beyond.

  • Very trim and strong, and confident he looked, with the glow of youth in his cheeks, and the spark of happiness in his gray eyes.

  • Feeling secure regarding their happiness and welfare, she did not miss them except with an occasional intense longing.

  • How, then, are we to explain this extraordinary discrepancy between human power and resulting human happiness?

  • The vision of the universal happiness seen by the economists has proved a mirage.

  • That news has caused a quite universal happiness to this wretched community.

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