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)

(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.
- 1643, — William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, I-i
  All happiness bechance to thee in Milan!
(obsolete, countable) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace; — used especially of language.
Some beauties yet no precepts can declare, For there's a happiness, as well as care. — Alexander Pope.

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)
joy
pleasure

Antonyms

Translations

emotion of being happy

Afrikaans: geluk (af)
Albanian: lumturi (sq)
Arabic: سَعَادَة‎ f (saʿāda)
Armenian: երջանկություն (hy) (erǰankutʿyun)
Asturian: felicidá f
Azerbaijani: xoşbəxtlik, səadət
Bashkir: бәхет (bäxet)
Belarusian: шча́сце n (ščáscje)
Bengali: সুখ (sukh)
Bulgarian: ща́стие (bg) n (štástie)
Burmese: သုခ (my) (su.hka.)
Catalan: felicitat (ca) f
Chinese:
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)
Faroese: gleði f
Finnish: onnellisuus (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 Greek: 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) (so’pʰea’ meaŋkʊəl)
Korean: 행복 (ko) (haengbok) (幸福 (ko))
Kyrgyz: бакыт (ky) (bakıt)
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: ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṃ), സന്തോഷം (ml) (santōṣaṃ), ആഹ്ളാദം (āhḷādaṃ)
Maltese: please add this translation if you can
Maori: uruhautanga
Mauritian Creole: jos, lazwa
Mongolian: аз жаргал (az žargal)
Navajo: ił hózhǫ́
Northern Sami: illu
Norwegian: lykke (no) m, glede (no) m
Nynorsk: lukke
Novial: feliseso
Occitan: felicitat (oc) f, bonaür (oc)
Old Norse: gleði f
Persian: خوشبختی‎ (fa) (xošbaxti), شادی‎ (fa) (šâdi), سعادت‎ (fa) (sa'âdat)
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: срећа f

Roman: sreća (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
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 (säğadät’), сәгадәт (tt) (säğadät)
Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṃ)
Thai: ความสุข (th) (kwaam-sùk)
Tibetan: བདེ་བ (bde ba)
Turkish: mutluluk (tr), saadet (tr)
Turkmen: bagt (tk), şatlyk, eýgilik
Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja)
Urdu: خوشی‎ f (xuśī)
Uyghur: بەخت‎ (bext), خۇشاللىق‎ (xushalliq)
Uzbek: baxt (uz), chogʻlik (uz), xushbaxtlik (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)
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

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)
Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṃ)

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 (sukha)
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: ^{(please verify)} خۆشی‎ (ku) (xoshí)
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.