happyadj.n.
/ˈhapi/, U.S. /ˈhæpi/ A. adj.
I. Senses relating principally to good fortune. Cf. blessed adj.† 3. That happens or presents itself by chance; fortuitous; chance. Obsolete. rare.
1.
a. Of a person: favoured by good fortune; lucky, fortunate; successful. Occasionally in extended use. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [adjective] > favoured or attended by good fortune > specifically of a person
happya1387
lucky1478
well-starred1775
tinny1918
tin-arsed1937
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 289 Herodes..was most ungracious in homeliche þinges, and happy [L. fortunatus] in oþer þinges.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 376 Happy he was, tuk fysche haboundanle.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 121 Wys men sayis he is happy Yat be oyer will him chasty.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 170 He is happy þat a harme hastely amendes.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. iii. sig. Aivv Happy man, happy dole.
1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre lxxvi, in Posies sig. Ii He..Weenes yet at last to make a happie hande By bloudie warre.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. iii. 218 Happy are they that heare their detractions, and can put them to mending. View more context for this quotation
1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe iii. 33 With Fate so cross, One must be happy by the others loss.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 183 I was so happy as not to be thereabouts at that Time.
1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero I. vi. 495 The happy seat of liberty, plenty, and letters.
1800 Monthly Mag. 10 8 Happy the youth, who..lets go only the conventional and the accidental [in religion], but binds closer about him the valuable and the essential!
1909 J. Davidson Fleet St. & Other Poems 33 Fill your glass: salute The memory of the happy neolith Who had the luck to hit on roast and boiled.
1942 Christian Sci. Monitor 18 Apr. (Weekly Mag.) 7/1 The new Archbishop of Canterbury..was happy in his choice of parents.
b. Blessed, beatified. Now only in of happy memory at memory n. Phrases 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > [adjective]
hallowedc900
holyc1000
blessedc1200
blissfula1225
seelya1225
yblessed1297
sacred13..
saint1377
devoutc1380
divinec1380
consecratec1386
dedicatec1386
benedighta1400
happyc1405
sillya1450
sacrate?a1475
sanctificatec1485
sacrificed?1504
sacrea1535
religious1549
vowed1585
anointed1595
devote1597
devoted1597
consecrated1599
sacrosanct1601
sanctimonious1604
sanctified1607
dedicated1609
divined1624
sacrosanctious1629
reverend1631
celebrate1632
divinified1633
sacrosanctified1693
sanctimonial1721
sacramental1851
divinized1852
sacral1882
sanct1890
sanctifiable1894
sacramented1914
hierophanic1927
kramat1947
sacralized1979
the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > supreme or heavenly happiness > [adjective] > made supremely happy
blessedc1175
happyc1405
beatified?1578
imparadiseda1586
paradised1594
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) §710 Wel happy & blessed been they, þt louen, & purchacen pees, for they been called children of god.
a1450 (?c1430) J. Lydgate Daunce Machabree (Huntington) (1931) l. 648 (MED) Happi is he that maketh yn heuene his feste.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) James i. 25 He shalbe happi in his dede.
a1557 J. Cheke tr. Gospel St. Matthew (1843) v. 3 Happi be ye beggars in sprijt.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies i. iv. 15 As the happy Chrysostome hath learnedly spoken.
1611 Bible (King James) John xiii. 17 If yee know these things, happy are ye if ye doe them. View more context for this quotation
1693 J. Talbot in J. Dryden Examen Poeticum 200 Sure, happy Saint, this Noble Song was giv'n To fit Thee for th'approaching Joys of Heav'n.
1824 in E. L. Clark Rec. Inscriptions on Tablets & Grave-stones in Burial-grounds Philadelphia (1864) 385 She is made a happy saint above Who was once a mourner here.
2. Of an event or period: marked by good fortune; fortunate, lucky, auspicious; prosperous; favourable, propitious. Now only in certain fixed collocations (as happy accident, happy coincidence, happy position), often blending with senses A. 4b or A. 5b (see also Compounds 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [adjective] > favoured or attended by good fortune
eadilyOE
blessedc1175
selec1225
yblessed1297
fortunedc1374
fortunatec1386
happya1393
happenc1400
well-fortunedc1425
lucklyc1450
fortunablec1470
fortunousc1470
well-fortunate1474
richc1478
lucky?1510
comical?1569
well1577
propitious1581
felicious1599
auspicious1616
felicitous1641
bonifate1656
faust1676
weirdly1807
arsey1953
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 367 After that a man poursuieth To love, so fortune suieth Fulofte and yifth hire happi chance To him.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 1334 Continuel happy commyng Of worldly gudes, es a takenyng Of þe dampnacion þat sal be.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Mending of Life 130 A Ioyfull hap & happy ioy.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) xlvii. 157 It was happy for them that the wether was so fayre.
1576 A. Fleming tr. G. Macropedius in Panoplie Epist. 378 What king in his adventures hath had more happie successe?
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 2 In lesse then one houre..we enjoyed a happie blast.
1692 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. iii. 22 A late happy Discovery by two great Luminaries of this Island.
1734 W. Snelgrave Acct. Guinea 277 It proved very happy for me.
1792 T. Jefferson Let. 16 June in Papers (1990) XXIV. 85 It is happy for us that these are preachers without followers.
1839 R. I. Murchison Silurian Syst. i. xxxvi. 489 When one of those happy accidents occurs.
1895 L. J. Smith in Law Times Rep. 73 692/1 A testator in the happy position of having..realty both in Lancashire and in America.
1921 Soviet Russia July 20/1 A happy wind blew on our desk a copy of the Petrograd Pravda of March 30 containing a report of Lenin's speech at the railway men's conference.
1953 P. Larkin Let. 7 Oct. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 213 Yesterday I had a note from the Income Tax asking for £2.8.6d—tax underpaid. Happy coincidence, I don't think.
1995 Scotsman (Nexis) 13 Dec. 15 Is this by happy accident or more by dastardly design?
2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 13 June 17/1 It flies in the face of all natural justice that they should be in that happy position.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adjective]
byc1050
casualc1374
fortuitc1374
fortunelc1374
fortunousc1374
causelessc1386
adventurousc1405
accidental1502
fortunable1509
happya1522
chanceable1549
occasional1569
accidentary1581
emergent1593
streave1598
contingent1604
happening1621
incidental1644
lucky1648
sporadical1654
temerarious1660
spontaneous1664
incidentarya1670
chance1676
antrin?1725
fortuitous1806
sporadic1821
windfall1845
chanced1853
blind1873
happenchance1905
happenstance1905
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) v. Prol. 193 The wery huntar to fynd hys happy pray.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vii. 169 I heare my selfe proclaim'd, And by the happie hollow of a tree Escapt the hunt.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) iii. ii. 258 Any happy concourse of Atoms.
II. Senses relating to pleasing appropriateness or aptness.
4.
a. Of a person: dexterous, skilful, esp. in one's choice of appropriate words. Frequently with in (occasionally at). Now rare.In some contexts difficult to distinguish from sense A. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > skilful or adroit
hendc1275
happya1400
clean1485
habile1485
practivea1500
feat1519
well-handeda1529
handsome1542
trick1542
neat1571
dexterous1622
adroit1652
right-handeda1661
artful1663
nitle1673
ambidextrousa1682
clever1716
jemmy1751
slick1807
sleek1822
cleverish1826
featy1844
two-handed1861
nifty1889
mean1918
organized1926
ept1938
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 3505 (MED) He was happy to gammys sere of beste of wode, of fowels of riuer.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 3878 Hardyeste of hande, happyeste in armes.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. G.viij He was apt and happie in armes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. i. 33 Haue you the Tongues? Val. My youthfull trauaile, therein made me happy . View more context for this quotation
1715 R. Bentley Serm. Popery x. 338 Our English Translators have not been very happy in their version of this Passage.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. p. iii One Gentleman is happy at a Reply; another excels in a Rejoinder.
1828 Atlas 15 June 377/3 He seems particularly happy in infusing the idiom of the patois into the indescribable language of Yorkshire and Somersetshire.
1884 G. Shaw-Lefevre in 19th Cent. Jan. 37 The artist..has been most happy in depicting the parents reposing in death.
1944 ELH 11 20 Condemning those who over-inform the poem with factual meaning, he is not therefore happy in accusing Wordsworth of indulging himself in egotistical rationalization.
b. Of an action, speech, etc.: pleasantly appropriate to the occasion or circumstances; felicitous, apt. Frequently in happy thought.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > [adjective] > apt or apposite
happya1400
germanea1525
conferent?1541
well-applieda1586
nicking1598
apt1600
punctual1609
apposite1621
collineant1638
pat1647
apropos1691
felicitous1789
treffend1850
bang on1936
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 4677 Þorou his awen happy [Vesp. scel-wis, Gött. witti] rede. he filled wiþ wine baþ quyte and rede.
1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xx. f. 140 Hauing done Saladine to vnderstand his happy repaire home to his Countrey,..[he] liued with his wife afterwardes many prosperous yeres.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 v. iv. 155 If a lie may do thee grace, Ile guild it with the happiest termes I haue. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. iii. 1 Saint Dennis blesse this happy Stratageme. View more context for this quotation
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ i. i. §8 The happy use the Primitive learned Christians made of all those passages.
1779 W. Cowper Let. 21 Sept. (1979) I. 304 The Situation is happy, the Gardens elegantly disposed.
1781 R. B. Sheridan Critic ii. i A most happy thought.
1799 I. D'Israeli Lovers ii. in Romances 310 They glided on the river with a happy audacity.
1862 J. S. Mill Utilitarianism 84 This happy thought was considered to get rid of the whole difficulty.
1879 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times II. xxix. 391 No comparison could be more misleading or less happy.
1915 J. Turner Let. 30 May in C. Warren Somewhere in France (2019) 14 It is a happy thought that a man can only peg out or be wiped out once.
1926 Rep. Proc. Ann. Meeting (Alabama State Bar Assoc.) 29 Making a very happy reply, the lawyer said, ‘By falsely and fraudulently pretending, if your Honor please, that the court was with me, when indeed it was not.’ (Laughter).
1991 C. B. Boyer & U. C. Merzbach Hist. Math. (ed. 2) xv. 288 Bombelli had the happy thought that the radicals themselves might be related in much the way that the radicands are related.
III. Senses relating to contentment.
5.
a. Feeling or showing a deep sense of pleasure or contentment, esp. arising from satisfaction with one's circumstances or condition; (also) marked by or expressive of such a feeling. More generally in weakened use: glad, pleased; satisfied, content (cf. not happy at Phrases 7).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > [adjective]
eadyeOE
i-selic888
i-sundfulc1000
seelya1272
graciousa1387
brighta1413
happy1477
beneurous1483
benewred1483
feliciousc1485
sunshine1594
faust1676
roseate1787
as happy (or jolly, etc.) as a sandboy1821
felicitous1824
happy as Larry1905
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 62v Hys fader was happy to haue suche a childe, and to put hym to the scole, that so wele loued wysdom.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Fiiij No euill man is absolutely happy. Therfore an absolute happie man (consyderyng he is wise) cannot be euill.
1581 A. Munday True Rep. Successe Eng. Souldiours in Ireland To Rdr. sig. A iiv This happy newes should be knowen vnto all.
1640 J. Shirley Coronation v. sig. I2 Heaven created him, To make her happy.
a1699 A. Halkett Autobiogr. (1875) 5 Resolved to leave England since he could not be Hapy in itt.
1773 M. Wilkes Let. 14 Aug. in Wilkes' Corr. (1805) IV. 161 I am happy at your liking Eastbourn so well.
1785 W. Paley Princ. Moral & Polit. Philos. i. vi. 18 In strictness, any condition, in which the amount or aggregate of pleasure exceeds that of pain,..may be denominated happy.
1847 F. Marryat Children of New Forest I. xi. 205 We will do all we can to make you happy.
1886 J. A. Froude Oceana viii. 128 When earth is so kind, men cannot choose but be happy.
1942 Fortune Nov. 199/2 The oil industry cannot see sales going down and feel happy about it.
1975 J. Cheever Jrnls. (1991) 314 I am happy to see a tubful of kindling.
2005 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 21 Oct. i. 1/3 ‘Are you happy?’ she shouted. ‘I am happy!’ came the lusty callback from the crowd of more than 100 professionals, parents and..children.
b. Esp. of an event or period: characterized by contentment or pleasure; joyous.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > [adjective] > specifically of a period, condition, or event
blissfulc1175
happya1547
comical?1569
untragic1837
a1547 Earl of Surrey Poems (1964) 12 Unhappy hand, it had ben happy time for me If..unjoynted hadst thou be.
1669 ‘Eleutherius’ tr. L. M. Du Bail Famous Chinois iv. 258 They led a most happy life, happy in regard of the innocent amenities with which the Countrey served them, and of the braver delights, with which the Court entertained them.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison V. iii. 24 What happy times were those, when I was innocent, and was learning English!
1789 Town & Country Mag. Apr. 190/1 There were the greatest rejoicings at Plymouth and in its neighbourhood, on the happy occasion of his Majesty's recovery.
1854 Friend of Youth & Child's Mag. Oct. 298 Rosa, if I were you, I would make to-morrow a very happy birthday—the happiest birthday you have ever had.
1879 W. E. Gladstone Gleanings Past Years II. vi. 267 In a happy childhood he evinced extreme precocity.
1897 H. P. Spofford Inheritance iv. 128 My mother told me the happiest night of her life was on the edge of that heath, where once she was lost and had abandoned herself to the love and care of heaven, and my father came and found her and snatched her back to the love here.
1938 E. Finch Wilfrid Scawen Blunt xvi. 358 They were the fields..where Blunt had spent so many happy days with his sister Alice angling the stream.
1965 I. Murdoch Red & Green vii. 114 Barney had a happy relationship with Frances, his only relationship which was not now in some way soured and twisted.
1983 M. FitzHerbert Man who was Greenmantle v. 79 They took a boat to Mount Athos and spent a happy fortnight, staying at Monasteries.
2007 Wisden Cricketer July (Sri Lanka Suppl.) 9/2 I have many very happy memories of touring Sri Lanka.
c. Used in expressions of good wishes for a person or persons on a celebratory occasion, event, day, etc., as happy birthday, happy Christmas, happy New Year, etc. Cf. merry adj. 5b.
ΚΠ
1577 S. Robson Courte of Ciuill Courtesie To Rdr. sig. Aii R. I. the Printer hereof, wisheth an happie New Yeere present, and many.
1664 ‘Philomathes’ New Prognostication sig. A8 God give us all a merrie Christmas, and a happy New-Year.
1707 F. Shaftoe Narrative 22 I wish you a happy Christmas and New Year.
1798 Universal Mag. Sept. 161/1 Lord Robert Bertie drank to him a happy new year.
1838 C. Ives in Serm. Several Occasions & Charges 142 A happy Christmas and new year to you all.
1880 Churchman 27 Mar. 359/2 And if you could peep into the study on any Easter morning, very early, you would be sure to see the children's mother twisting a wreath of vines and fragrant flowers about this picture, and hear the children say, ‘Good-morning, Hans and Gretchen. A happy Easter to you’.
1918 E. Landman Kindergarten Man. Jewish Relig. Schools App. 145 They leave synagog for home, greeting each other with ‘Good Shabbos,’ ‘Good Yom Tov,’ ‘L'shanah Tovah,’ ‘Happy Hanukkah,’ ‘Merry Purim,’ etc.
1963 J. Lennon in Beatles Fan Club Recording in New Musical Express 6 Dec. 10/2 Garry Crimble to you, Garry Crimble to you, Garry Bable, Dear Christmas, Happy Birthday, me too!
1978 Chicago Tribune 26 Dec. i. 6/1 ‘Happy Christmas to each and every human being,’ the Polish-born Pope said in his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message.
1994 Lewiscraft CraftLines Nov. 4/2 Add glitter for extra sparkle. Tie with raffia and tag with Happy Holidays 1994.
2007 N. Palta Preparing for Call Center Interviews iii. 97 In the US, when Christmas is explicitly mentioned in a greeting, the universal phrasing is Merry Christmas. The British alternative, Happy Christmas, is entirely unknown in America, and while its meaning is obvious, it might still garner the speaker some odd looks.
d. With infinitive: willing, ready, eager to do something.
ΚΠ
1633 J. Shirley Wittie Faire One i. i. sig. B4v I am one Aymwell called friend, and shall be happy to Convay him any knowledge may concerne him.
1778 F. Burney Evelina III. xiv. 136 Mrs. Selwyn, when applied to [undertake a carriage ride], said, ‘If my Lord, or Sir Clement, will join us, I shall be happy to make one;—but really, a trio of females will be nervous to the last degree’.
1816 J. Austen Emma I. xv. 276 Any message to Miss Smith I shall be happy to deliver. View more context for this quotation
1861 Amer. Agriculturist July 199/3 Our farmers will be happy to supply them all they require.
1913 Locomotive Engineers Jrnl. Dec. 1046/1 If he ever comes to America I shall be happy to show him my father's home.
1943 Washington Post 31 July b8/3 His income tax on that will be $140,000. ‘I'm happy to pay it.’
1990 Spin Nov. 20/2 Fan: Can I have your autograph..? Slaughter: No problem I'd be happy to.
2010 S. Thirsk Not quite White (2011) 281 ‘I'll be happy to go through your questionnaires with you afterwards,’ said Mr Dai Edwards cheerfully.
e. Of a plant: flourishing; healthy; (also) capable of growing well (in particular environmental conditions).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by good growth > [adjective] > flourishing or luxuriant in growth
greeneOE
frimOE
ranka1325
wlonk1398
flourishingc1400
rankish1495
frank?1548
gole1573
abled1576
wanton1579
proud1597
unseared1599
unwithered1599
ramping1607
lusha1616
fulsome1633
luxurious1644
rampant1648
luxuriant1661
lascivious1698
pert1727
unnipped1775
verdurous1820
happy1875
1875 Jrnl. Hort., Cottage Gardener, & Country Gentleman 27 May 415/1 We have seen them [sc. flamingo plants] luxuriating at 80° to 90°, and looking quite happy in 50° to 60°.
1916 H. H. Thomas Compl. Gardener (ed. 4) xvii. 275 Pinks prefer a rather light soil or, at all events, one that is well-drained. They are never so happy in heavy, wet ground.
1963 Times 9 Feb. 11/3 Our own camellias against the north wall of the house are perfectly happy.
1990 Garden Answers Nov. 15/1 The majority of these plants are happy in ordinary soil provided it is friable.
2002 E. N. O’Rourke & L. C. Standifer Gardening Humid South iv. 56 It does not take much to make a houseplant happy.
6. colloquial. Slightly intoxicated, esp. so as to feel mildly elated. Cf. maudlin adj. 2, merry adj. 4c.In quot. 1652 a contextual use of sense A. 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk > partially drunk
merrya1382
semi-bousyc1460
pipe merry1542
totty1570
tipsy1577
martin-drunk1592
pleasant1596
mellow1611
tip-merry1612
flustered1615
lusticka1616
well to live1619
jolly1652
happy1662
hazy1673
top-heavy1687
hearty1695
half-seas-over1699
oiled1701
mellowish1703
half channelled over1709
drunkish1710
half-and-half1718
touched1722
uppisha1726
tosie1727
bosky1730
funny1751
fairish1756
cherry-merry1769
in suds1770
muddy1776
glorious1790
groggified1796
well-corned1800
fresh1804
to be mops and brooms1814
foggy1816
how-come-ye-so1816
screwy1820
off the nail1821
on (also, esp. in early use, upon) the go1821
swipey1821
muggy1822
rosy1823
snuffy1823
spreeish1825
elevated1827
up a stump1829
half-cockedc1830
tightish1830
tipsified1830
half shaved1834
screwed1837
half-shot1838
squizzed1845
drinky1846
a sheet in the wind1862
tight1868
toppy1885
tiddly1905
oiled-up1918
bonkers1943
sloshed1946
tiddled1956
hickey-
1652 B. Holyday tr. Horace Odes ii. iii. 13 On Feast dayes retyrd to grassie shade, Thou with close Falerne wine art happy made.]
1662 G. May White-powder Plot Discovered 30 I will cause thee drink, Whereby thou shalt esteem thy self, and think, Thou art more happy, by one Cup of Wine, Than if the best Town on the Earth were thine.
1770 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 559 To express the Condition of an Honest Fellow..under the effects of good fellowship, it is said that he is..Happy.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. xi. 184 An opportunity of making himself a ‘little happy’.
1899 G. Stables Annie o' Banks o' Dee ii. 14 ‘You were drunk last night. I'm sure of it.’ ‘No, not so very full, Fanny. I hadn't enough to get happy and jolly on.’
1912 tr. C. Nodier in J. Hawthorne Lock & Key Libr.: Classic French (new ed.) IV. 29 It's that rascally carriage driver..who has got happy on his three bottles of wine de Posada.
1998 Mirror (Nexis) 24 Aug. 9 It had boss Martin O'Neill joking about getting his agent happy on wine, so he'd agree a new deal.
7. Esp. of a group or community: exhibiting harmony or cooperation; marked by a pleasant sense of harmony and mutual goodwill. Cf. happy ship n. at Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1717 S. Croxall tr. in J. Dryden et al. tr. Ovid Metamorphoses viii. 255 She cou'd..throw her Body to the distant Ground, And in the Cretans happy Camp be found [L. castra vel aeratas hosti recludere portas].
1795 tr. C.-F. Volney Ruins (ed. 2) xvii. 140 It is by returning once more to a conformity with this rule that you can reform abuses and reconstitute a happy society.
1803 tr. in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 24 Sept. 461 There is not among us a single soldier or general officer who does not burn to be a simple volunteer in the happy army which, directed by your genius and your star, shall pass the seas as you have passed Mount St. Bernard.
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. 117 William felt all the glee of a schoolboy who is leaving harsh masters and quarrelsome comrades to pass the Christmas holidays at a happy home.
1929 T. E. Lawrence Home Lett. (1954) 375 The camp is comfortable, & the airmen say it is a happy place.
1958 Observer 31 Aug. 19/3 The team was an undeniably happy one with immense spirit.
2012 Sunday Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 20 May (Sport section) 7 Clint Young sang the club song with his brother, and they were a happy team at Hawthorn again.
B. n.
1. With the and plural agreement: happy people as a class.
ΚΠ
1509 H. Watson tr. S. Brant Shyppe of Fooles (de Worde) iii. sig. B.ii For truely there is manere in euery thynge, for the happy & eurous helde the hye waye.
1647 A. Cowley Sleep in Mistress iv Thou scorn'st th' Unhappy; and the Happy, Thee.
1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. i. 80 That greatest of human blessings [sleep]..visits the happy, the chearful, and the gay.
1814 M. Edgeworth Patronage IV. xxxix. 184 The happy are not fastidious as to their accommodations, they never miss the painted ceiling, or the long arcade, and their slumbers require no bed of down.
1878 Pop. Sci. Monthly Dec. 195 Joy has less need of sympathy: the happy are apt to be self-sufficient.
1921 M. A. Crocker tr. G. Sierra Martínez Ana María xxii. 315 How generous the happy can be.
2001 J. A. Stuart tr. P. Scheerbart Gray Cloth 121 The reserved want the reserved, the happy want the happy, but the sad never want the sad.
2.
a. A happy person or thing. Also: a happy state, event, etc.
ΚΠ
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos iii. sig. Giiiv O happy most of happies al, king Priams doughter bright [L. o felix una ante alias Priameia virgo].
1607 C. Lever Queene Elizabeths Teares sig. B Among the number of those holy Saints, A happy Lady, where all happies are.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xvi. 81 If you knew how I love, you would favour me with your Presence and Conversation, if it was in your own Power to do so; and then I would rank myself among the Happies.
1890 Speaker 13 Sept. 297 Do you know how the novels are classified at Mudie's? They are first divided in Happys and Unhappys.
1920 Santa Fe Mag. May 71/2 The occasion was much enjoyed until the wee hours when under the pressure of the Jazz the stay bolts began to loosen, and the happies departed homeward.
1940 San Antonio (Texas) Express 24 Oct. 11/2 [Divorce] may mean life-long unhappiness for the other-partner, but when you came to balance the happies against the unhappies, it would probably be a fifty-fifty proposition.
2007 P. Mcgee Sumo your Relationships v. 194 A happy can trivialise important issues. Their approach to ‘Moving On’ is to achieve happy feelings in the shortest possible time.
b. colloquial. many happies: = many happy returns at return n. 8b.
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1904 D. Hankey Let. 30 Nov. (1920) 19 Many happies, and a jolly Christmas and a prosperous new year, and may your shadow never grow bigger!
1915 J. J. Bell Wee Macgreegor Enlists i. 13 Yer birthday present'll no be ready till the evenin', still, here's wishin' ye many happies, an' may ye keep on improvin'.
1939 Observer 6 Aug. 7/6 In one..Personal Column someone, in a birthday message, expressed a wish for ‘Very Many Happies’.
1953 Centralian Advocate (Austral.) 2 Oct. 13/4 Many happies to you Mary Heenan.
1969 Arizona Republic 26 Jan. n2/4 Bob..tied the knot last week to his long-time girl friend Julie. So here's wishing many happies.
2007 V. Morrill Beginners Please xvi. 332 Many happies dear Sister. Can you believe that we're now twenty-one and presumably fully-fledged?
Phrases
P1. In various proverbial expressions. Frequently in the formula happy is the —— that ——.
ΚΠ
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 277) (1910) 7 And in anoþer place it is seid, ‘happy or blessid be þat day þat ordeyneþ mery ȝeres.’
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. clxxxvii. [clxxxiv.] 572 Therfore it is an olde prouerbe: he is nat poore yt is happy.
1534 W. Tyndale Newe Test. Ep. James i. f. cccxlix Happy is the man that endureth in temptacion, for when he is tryed he shall receave the croune of lyfe.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vi. sig. Iv Better to be happy than wyse.
1670 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 48 Happy is the woing, that is not long in doing.
1773 S. Eve in Pennsylvania Mag. Hist. (1881) 5 192 Happy is the man that expects nothing for he shall not be disappointed.
1824 S. Austin Let. 17 Dec. in E. C. Barker Austin Papers (1924) I. i. 992 A greedy man can never be happy, the loss of a cent makes him miserable.
1905 Munsey's Mag. Feb. 667/1 Happy is the country that has no history, the proverb says; and happy is the woman that has no history.
2011 Independent 13 Apr. 15/3 (headline) Dr Anthony Seldon, co-founder of the new Action for Happiness movement, explains why it's better to be happy than wealthy.
P2. call no man happy till he dies and variants: one cannot be considered to be completely happy or fortunate until one's entire life has passed without unhappiness, grief, etc. [Originally and frequently with reference to the story of the Athenian statesman Solon and Croesus, king of Lydia (Herodotus 1. 29-33); compare quots. 1539, 1545, 1716. Compare also ancient Greek μηδέν᾽ ὀλβίζειν, πρῖν ἂν τέρμα τοῦ βίου περάσῃ μηδὲν ἀλγεινὸν παθών ‘consider no man happy, until he passes the end of his life without suffering grief’ (Sophocles Oedipus Rex 1529), classical Latin dicique beatus ante obitum nemo..debet ‘nobody should be called blessed before his death’ (Ovid Metamorphoses 3. 136).]
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1539 R. Taverner Second Bk. Garden of Wysdome sig. D. vii But to this, aunswered Solon,..No man in the world o kynge Cresus is so happy and fortunate in this lief, yt he can be called throughly & in euery parte blessed, afore he dye.]
1545 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Prouerbes (new ed.) f. liiiv Solon aunswered kynge Cresus, that no man coulde be named happy, tyl he had happely and prosperouslye passed the course of his lyfe.
1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. i. xviii. 28 We must exspect of man the latest day, Nor e'er he die, he's happy, can we say.
1689 W. Sherlock Pract. Disc. Death iii. 274 What is said upon another account, that we must call no Man happy before death, is true in this sence; no Man is a Conqueror, but he who dies so.
1716 H. Prideaux Old & New Test. Connected I. iii. 118 But on his discourse with him Solon plainly told him, that he could pronounce no man happy, as long as he lived, because no one could foresee what might happen unto him before his death.
1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas I. 53 A sober heart Is the best gift of God; call no man happy Till death hath found him prosperous to the close.
1881 Bristol Mercury 20 Apr. 5/3 If one may call no man happy until his death, one certainly can judge of no man's career aright until we can disengage it from the atmosphere of party feeling.
1957 H. Levin Contexts of Crit. 25 ‘Call no man happy until he is dead’, the tragic axiom, is not truer nor more false than the comic generalization, ‘All's well that ends well’.
2002 New Republic (Nexis) 23 Dec. 27 These interpolations seem oddly appropriate to the action, and so does the way the songs combine classical proverbialisms with modern sentiments (‘Call no man happy until he dies/ There's no milk at the bottom of the pail’).
P3. In similative phrases, indicating a high level of happiness; sometimes also used in negative contexts to express unhappiness. happy as a clam, the day (is long), Larry, pig in muck, prince, etc.: see the final element.With quot. 1813 cf. sense A. 6.
ΚΠ
1601 W. Cornwallis Ess. II. xlviii. sig. Mm7 Me thinkes other creatures wanting this are as happy as a licentious disposition wanting wealth.
1727 J. Gay in J. Swift Miscellanies III. 211 Full as an Egg was I with Glee; And happy as a King.
a1766 F. Sheridan Concl. Mem. Miss Sidney Bidulph (1770) IV. 204 The possession of Cecilia makes you as happy as a god.
1813 M. L. Weems Drunkard's Looking Glass (ed. 2) 14 Such was poor sailor Tom Halyard's song, interrupted at times with hiccups, as he staggered along Baltimore street, under a press of grog, and as happy as an Admiral.
1868 Galaxy July 37 Now if diamonds would make a man as happy as a cherub, the Shah of Persia might be such a cherub.
1899 Manitoba Free Press 29 July 7/3 What is the matter... You look about as happy as a wet cat.
1949 N. Coward Diary 3 Jan. (2000) 121 She is as happy as a bee with it and completely well again.
1967 N. Spinrad Men in Jungle xi. 182 Here comes Willem now, looking about as happy as a basset hound with a toothache.
2003 Ace June 82/3 A year or two later the Halle tournament director again looked as happy as a cat with a rat after luring Pete Sampras from his usual Wimbledon preparations at Queen's.
P4. many happy returns: see return n. 8b.
P5. the happy day: the day on which a wedding is planned to take place.
ΚΠ
1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. f. 318 Till nowe haue I attended for this right happie daye of ioye and blisse..in token whereof, I doe kisse your white and delicate handes.]
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 151 May I hope, my Pamela, said he, that next Thursday shall certainly be the happy Day?
1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xxxvii. 357 The ardent Foker pressed onwards the happy day.
1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock v. v. 213 ‘When's the happy day?’ Cubitt said and they all smiled.
2001 Bloomberg Money Dec. 21/1 The cost of the modern wedding can be astronomical but the chances are the happy day will bring with it the advantage of a specific date.
P6. happy ever after (also happy ever afterwards): = happily ever after at happily adv. Phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > [adverb] > very happily
happy ever after1813
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > types of narrative or story generally > [adjective] > other specific attributes
formal1592
tendency1838
unartistic1854
happy ever afterwards1858
ben trovato1883
middle-length1928
hard-boiled1929
stream of consciousness1931
plutographic1985
1734 Defoe's Relig. Courtship abridg'd i. iii. 123* They both press'd her to have him, and did not doubt but she wou'd in such a Choice be exceedingly well pleased and happy ever after.]
1813 Ld. Byron Let. 12 Oct. (1830) 143/2 I got one to make an apology, and the other to take it, and left them to live happy ever after.
1830 Museum Foreign Lit. & Sci. Sept. 204/2 This does not prevent their becoming mutually enamoured, and, at last, in the good old way they are married, and live very happy ever afterwards!
1858 E. Bulwer-Lytton What will he do with It? viii. iii. 61 And then they would live happy ever afterward as in fairy tales.
1905 Westm. Gaz. 1 July 7/1 This, of course, is the so-called ‘happy-ever-after’ ending: in most cases the comedies of this type are..artificial.
1960 Observer 8 Feb. 14/7 There's a nasty rumour in some studios that the next fad will be ‘happy ever after’ endings.
1992 Herald (Glasgow) 16 Nov. 4/3 So it's happy ever after for the Perfect Wife and happy ever after for the Sexual Woman.
P7. to be happy (about, with): to be content or satisfied (with or about something). Frequently in negative constructions, as not (at all, etc.) happy, usually indicating substantial dissatisfaction; cf. not adv. 10b.
ΚΠ
1829 London Encycl. XVII. 301/1 The greater part of their time is spent in diversions; and however miserable their manner of life may seem to us, they are quite happy with it.
1860 F. Wilford Play & Earnest vii. 314 I wanted to tell you I'm not happy about him at all; the letters I've had from him lately have been written in such a melancholy sort of way.
1925 M. Moore Let. 29 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1997) 220 I will be frank in saying that there are some things that I am not happy about, but they have not yet made me heart-sick.
1947 People 22 June 7/5 The receiving club were not at all happy about this.
1969 J. Ross Deadest Thing you ever Saw xiv. 117 If you are happy, David, then so am I.
2007 Hello! 17 July 76/1 Taxpayers may not be happy about paying for the safety of young ladies who may never become royal.
P8. Originally and chiefly U.S. happy days are here again: used to express the return of a period of prosperity, optimism, or joyousness. Also in ironic use. Cf. happy days int. at Compounds 3.Popularized as the title of a song (see quot. 1929), which was used in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s successful 1932 United States presidential campaign.
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1905 ‘W. Johnson’ Old Man's Idyl iv. 42 The unmistakable bloom of youth has returned to both, and the happy days are here again.]
1921 Atlanta Const. 30 May 3/6 (heading) Happy days are here again for children and teachers.
1929 J. Yellen (title of song) Happy days are here again.
1932 Chicago Tribune 2 July 4/1 ‘Happy Days Are Here Again’, sings the Democratic national convention when Franklin D. Roosevelt goes over the top at the Stadium.
1940 Bakersfield Californian 3 Aug. 1/2 (caption) Happy days are here again for Gary Webb.., for Babe, Boston terrier shown above..was returned two hours after story of boy's sorrow on loss of his dog was published in The Californian.
1968 Times 9 Nov. 12/1 The interim report..made it clear that happy days were here again but shareholders are to do even better than expected.
1996 National News (Harare) June 9/1 Oh, happy days are here again for it is the Bonfire Season, dear to the heart of ecorapists everywhere.
2003 C. Bateman Chapter & Verse (2008) ix. 105 But everyone knows and everyone is smiling because happy days are here again.
Compounds
C1. With participles, as happy-hearted (similarly happy-heartedness), happy-making, happy-natured, happy-seeming, happy-tempered, etc., adjectives; also †happy-hapless adj.
ΚΠ
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) i. f. 46 sig. H4 Her happy-making hand, of whome one looke From Nous and Cosma all their beauty tooke.
1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres v. ciii. Ee2 Yet happy haples day, blest-ill-lost breath, Both for our better fortune, and your owne.
1601 R. Linche tr. G. Nanni Hist. Treat. Trav. Noah sig. Miij Now there wanted not any terrene or earth-born delight or felicitie which might make this happie-seeming potentate more fortunat, mightie, or contentfull.
1645 J. Milton On Time in Poems 20 Him, t'whose happy-making sight..When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall clime.
1780 Mirror No. 89 Much of the employment a shop-keeper gets, is owing to the attraction of a happy-fancied sign, advertisement, or shop-bill.
1828 A. M. Porter Coming Out in J. Porter & A. M. Porter Coming Out & Field of Forty Footsteps II. 573 From the hour in which that happy-hearted foreigner joined forces with the English peer's Italian wife, Lady Donnington's fashion declined.
1861 J. Brown Horæ Subsecivæ 2nd Ser. 110 A singularly happy, and happy-making man.
1882 J. Brown Miss Stirling Graham in John Leech & Other Papers 173 She retained to the last her..happy-heartedness.
1921 D. H. Lawrence Sea & Sardinia 56 Old wood..happy-seeming as iron never can be.
1924 M. B. Lowndes Terriford Myst. iii. 35 Yet she looked so happy-natured.
1946 E. Sitwell Fanfare for Elizabeth xv. 155 Katherine Parr, a happy-natured, placid woman.
1952 S. Spender Learning Laughter 103 I never noticed such a happy-seeming family.
2003 National Post (Canada) 4 Mar. al1/6 A band of vigorous and happy-looking young men, calling themselves the Derailers, entertained scores of dancers.
C2. As the second element in compound adjectives (particularly common during and following the Second World War (1939–45)) relating to (temporary) mental instability associated with the first element: (a) that is in a dazed, nervous, or light-headed state as a result of excessive strain, as bomb-, demob, flak-, sand-happy, etc. (cf. stir-crazy at stir n.3 Compounds); (b) acting in an irresponsible, obsessive, or precipitate manner, as knife-, strike-, trigger-happy, etc.: see the first elements. Cf. also slap-happy adj.
C3.
happy bunny n. see bunny n.2 Additions 2.
happy camper n. colloquial (originally U.S.) a content or satisfied person; also in extended use.Frequently in negative contexts, esp. in not a happy camper.
ΚΠ
1930 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 25 May 1/6 At the meeting of the staff of Camp Shatter, the summer camp of the Blair-Bedford council, Boy Scouts of America, the slogan ‘Every Scout a Happy Camper’ was selected.]
1957 N.Y. Amsterdam News 22 June 34/ ‘I simply want to be a happy camper,’ says ‘Pocahontas’ whose real name is Miss Edna Riley.
1966 Herald-Press (St. Joseph, Mich.) 7 Mar. 1/5 (caption) No Happy Camper: Genuine pain is registered on the face of this unidentified soldier undergoing training at Fort Benning's Camp Happiness.
1981 Sunday Herald (Chicago) 27 Sept. (Northwest section: Elk Grove Village) Glossary of campus lingo... Happy Camper—Usually negative ‘My weekend? My cat died, mom made me paint the entire house and I caught my boyfriend with a guy. I was not a happy camper.’
1984 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 26 June c1 Although no longer distinguished by a world record, Lundquist said he is ‘a happy camper’.
2009 Express (Nexis) 12 May (Sports section) 58 He wasn't a happy camper, but sometimes the manager knows best.
happy couple n. an engaged or (esp.) newly married couple.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > [noun] > married people > married couple
couple1393
pairc1400
married couplea1625
happy couple1631
man and wife1749
Ozzie and Harriet1974
1631 B. Jonson New Inne v. iii. sig. G3v Here come the happy couple!
1753 Scots Mag. Aug. 422/2 The happy couple who got the Dunstable bacon in 1751.
1833 T. Hook Widow x, in Love & Pride I. 301 The happy couple left town..to pass the honey week—for they had not time to make a moon of it.
1907 St. Nicholas Oct. 1119/1 The ‘happy couple’..will hurry back to Red Feather's house to the reception.
1960 A. Duggan Family Favourites ix. 190 The happy couple exchanged their vows before the chief priest of Cybele as officiant.
2010 Wedding Ideas Nov. 148/1 This happy couple were no shrinking violets: think towering cakes, fairytale dresses and a popping pink and orange colour scheme.
happy days int. (a) used as a drinking toast celebrating happy times; (b) expressing (wistful) recollection of happy times in the past.
ΚΠ
1893 Brit. Printer Sept. 347/2 Drink A loving toast—‘Long life, and happy days, To our good Master, Father, and our Friend!’
1899 D. Belasco Naughty Anthony ii. i. in America's Lost Plays (1941) 299 I beg your pardon! Happy days! [stage direction: Drinks].
1935 G. Greene Basement Room & Other Stories 106 ‘Your health, my dear. You look younger than ever.’ ‘Happy days,’ Amy said.
1966 T. Walsh Face of Enemy (1968) 62 Another drink was handed to him... ‘Happy days, old boy.’
2001 K. Sampson Outlaws (2002) 280 Buying champagne for all kinds, having a laugh and joke with Liverpool's finest and a consignment of finest Turkish coming their way tomorrow. Happy days.
happy dispatch n. see dispatch n. 4.
happy dust n. slang (originally U.S.) = cocaine n.; cf. happy pill n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) > morphine, cocaine, or heroin > cocaine
cocaine1874
coke1908
happy dust1912
candy1925
nose candy1925
gold dust1931
Charley1935
girl1953
blow1971
rock1973
product1983
rock cocaine1984
crack1985
1912 M. I. Wilbert & M. G. Motter Digest Laws Poisons & Habit-forming Drugs U.S. Treasury Dept. Health Bull. No. 56. Index 266/1 Happy dust. See Cocaine.
1920 C. S. Montanye in O. Penzler Black Lizard Big Bk. of Pulps (2007) 630/1 ‘It's dope, isn't it?’.. The dark man's eyes began to sparkle. ‘Happy dust. Have some?’
1961 Baker St. Jrnl. Sept. 176 Holmes, clearly, had appointed himself his poor friend's keeper, and it was to keep him off the happy dust that he continually hauled him around from case to case.
2009 L. Bickerstaff Cocaine 6 Whether you call it..‘devil's dandruff’, ‘happy dust’, ‘nose candy’, or one of the other 165 street names for this illegal drug, you are talking about cocaine.
happy ending n. (a) an ending in a novel, play, etc., in which the plot achieves a happy resolution (esp. by marriage, continued good health, etc.), of a type sometimes regarded as trite or conventional; also in extended use; (b) U.S. an orgasm, esp. one experienced by a man after sexual stimulation given after (or during) a massage; cf. massage parlour n. (a) at massage n.2 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > [noun] > orgasm
happy ending1748
orgasm1754
spending1856
climax1873
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [noun] > plot
plat1589
plot1613
paper-plot1622
bone1647
intrigue1651
action1668
intrigo1672
fable1678
story1679
happy ending1748
storyline1906
plot line1907
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > plot > parts of plot
envoy1616
undermirth1640
counter-turn1651
under-walk1651
deus ex machina1697
happy ending1748
dénouement1752
anagnorisis1783
comic relief1783
by-play1812
tragic irony1833
by-plot1851
dramatic irony1881
plot point1909
cliff-hanging1945
subtext1960
1602 tr. G. Corrozet Memorable Conceits 190 A good entrie or beginning is not all, without it haue a happie ending.]
1748 S. Richardson Let. 10 May (1964) 87 The greater Vulgar, as well as the less, had rather it [sc. Clarissa] had had what they call, an Happy Ending.
1795 R. Cumberland Henry I. iii. i. 202 Examples muster strongest for the story with a happy ending.
1884 H. James in Longman's Mag. Sept. 506 Another would say that it depends for a ‘happy ending’ on a distribution at the last of prizes, pensions, husbands, wives, babies, millions, appended paragraphs and cheerful remarks.
1934 E. Wharton Backward Glance vii. 147 The American public always wants..a tragedy with a happy ending.
1957 N. Frye Anat. Crit. 104 Most students of literature prefer to keep in the middle distance..run-of-the-mill Elizabethan sonnets and love lyrics,..nineteenth-century happy-ending novels.
1999 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 14 Aug. (Review section) 8 ‘We are seeing more and more women accompanying their men in here,’ she says of her parlour, which provides ‘massage only’ but with a guaranteed ‘happy ending’.
2010 H. Jacobson Finkler Question iii. 71 Jane Austen waves her wand and conjures a happy ending at the eleventh hour.
2011 S. Brockmann Breaking Rules viii. 129 I thought it went massage, then happy ending?
happy face n. (a) = smiley face n. 1; (b) = smiley face n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > physical representation of abstraction > symbolizing > [noun] > a symbol > specific symbols > others
Samian letter1616
A1651
Tetragrammaton1656
arrow1744
arrowhead1832
wind1847
scarlet letter1850
sun wheel1865
sacred axe1866
rising sun1868
crow's foot1871
Easter rabbit1881
hexagram1882
sun sign1882
Easter bunny1900
Staffordshire knot1908
sinsigna1914
tectiform1921
padma1954
smiley face1957
happy face1971
lexigram1973
emoticon1988
smiley1989
1971 Beaver County (Pa.) Times 15 Sept. (Advertising Suppl.) A happy face lamp with the new smiley face.
1989 Austral. UNIX Syst. User Group Newslet. Dec. 127/1 There are a few overly friendly footnotes, e.g. the explanation of the ‘happy-face’, but these are bearable.
1992 Newsweek (Nexis) 6 Jan. 54 [He] wears a T shirt with a happy face that's been shot in the forehead.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 3 Oct. i. 3/4 A series of happy-face circles hangs on one wall. On them, children have illustrated some of the emotions they experience: horror, fear, sadness, indifference, anger, melancholy, exhaustion.
2011 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 28 Apr. b9 If you've downloaded an app for emojis, those little happy faces and icons, you can add it to your list of keyboards in this panel.
happy event n. the (esp. recent or expected) birth of a baby.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > [noun]
birdeOE
birtha1200
i-borenessc1225
bearingc1275
nativityc1375
progressionc1385
gettingc1480
natality1483
naissance1490
falling1533–4
nascence1570
natitial1612
progermination1648
happy event1737
engendure1821
arrival1830
birthhood1867
interesting event1899
1737 King George II Let. 3 Aug. in Lett. Occas. Birth of Young Princess 6 Your carrying away her Royal Highness from Hampton Court..after sufficient Warnings for a Week before, to have made the necessary Preparations for this happy Event.
1758 Rev. Sixth Let. to People 53 He could not skip so lightly over his royal highness the duke of Cumberland's birth; to which happy event we are indebted for all the benefits we now enjoy.
1888 R. W. Felkin tr. I. E. Schnitzer Emin Pasha in Central Afr. i. 17 If twins are born, and especially if they are of the same sex, the whole village unites in celebrating the happy event.
1937 D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon iv. 93 It seems..that we are expecting a happy event. Parturiunt montes.
1969 Times 20 Mar. 16/2 Aunt Juju, in her harping upon ‘happy events’..knows more about life and death than Hedda.
1995 J. Miller & M. Stacey Driving Instructor's Handbk. (ed. 8) ix. 293 Mothers-to-be are not invalids..however, they must be given some consideration particularly with regard to ensuring the happy event does not occur during the driving test.
happy hardcore n. a form of electronic dance music characterized by a very fast tempo, a repetitive 4/4 beat, and an upbeat or euphoric sound, often featuring female vocals; cf. hardcore n. 4.
ΚΠ
1994 Melody Maker 22 Jan. 31/2 Where the younger kids get off on the simplistic rush of happy hardcore..the veterans want music with more complex emotions and textures.
2008 Guardian 6 Feb. (G2 section) 6/2 If you live in London, you may be labouring under the misapprehension that happy hardcore, the fast-tempoed dance music style famed for its euphoric vocals and sentimental lyrics, died a death in the late 1990s.
happy hour n. (a) U.S. Navy a period of time during which entertainment of various types is provided for the crew on board a ship; (b) originally U.S. a period of time (originally an hour, now often longer), usually in the early evening, during which drinks are served in a bar or other licensed establishment at reduced prices.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > particular time > [noun] > an appointed or fixed time, day, or date > for something spec.
payday1529
settling day1806
cocktail hour1893
happy hour1914
airdate1950
Holy Hour1953
the world > time > reckoning of time > [noun] > a calculated space of time > closing or opening time in a pub
pub time1941
happy hour1951
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > drinking times
bever1499
the sun is over the yardarm (also foreyard)1839
opening time1841
chucking-out time1909
permitted hours1919
stop-tap1938
happy hour1951
1914 Day Bk. (Chicago) 8 May The happy hour is really several hours set apart three nights a week for the entertainment of the crew... The entertainment consists of moving pictures, boxing bouts,..and dramatics from vaudeville to tragedy.
1951 Los Angeles Times 26 Nov. ii. 5/1 [Y]ou ought to see the stampede at a Valley tavern during its ‘Happy Hour’ from 5 to 6 p.m. when all drinks are 25 cents.
1952 All Hands Apr. 40 Ship's happy hour features real variety show with top-notch talent.
1966 W. Brinkley Ninety & Nine 25 The Navy has an institution which it calls the ‘happy hour’, a term for a recreational period such as movies, baseball, volleyball, or whatever other means of diversion may be available in the circumstances of the particular ship.
1967 Atlantic July 58/2 There have been other near tragedies which are, in retrospect, awfully good happy-hour bar stories.
1985 Times 12 Aug. 8 Most restaurants and bars have been forced to forget about ‘happy hour’ where drinks are cheaper.
2011 Time Out N.Y. 24 Mar. 14/2 You can..indulge in the anytime happy hour—just drop $20 to drink as many beers and bottom-shelf mixed drinks as you'd like for two full hours.
happy land n. a land of unusual prosperity, a place of happiness; (also) heaven.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > heaven > [noun]
bliss971
heavenOE
paradiseOE
towera1240
seatc1275
heavenwarda1300
Abraham's bosomc1300
tabernaclea1340
wonea1350
sanctuary1382
pasturec1384
firmament1388
sky?1518
Canaan1548
welkin1559
happy land1562
sphere?1592
heavenwards1614
afterworld1615
patria1707
god-home1848
overworld1858
the invisible1868
the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > supreme or heavenly happiness > [noun] > place of supreme happiness
heaveneOE
Edena1225
paradise?a1300
Garden of Eden1535
eutopia1553
happy land1562
Arcady1590
Hesperidesa1592
Elysiuma1616
God's own country1807
lotusland1856
Adamless Eden1876
summerland1895
Shangri-La1941
1562 W. Bullein Comfortable Regiment sig. B.iv It shall be our best exchaunge, into an happie lande foreuer, where no trouble is, nor ye turning whele of Fortune.
1681 S. Colvil Mock Poem i. 100 A Message she hath tane in hand, To search for that most happy Land, Unknown to any heretofore.
1787 S. Stennett in J. Rippon Selection of Hymns 584 I stand, And cast a wishful Eye, To Canaan's fair and happy Land.
1806 ‘C. Caustic’ Democracy Unveiled (ed. 3) I. ii. 85 Such principles, alas, will flood Columbia's ‘happy land’ with blood.
1845 C. H. Bateman Children's Hymn-bk. 36 There is a happy land Far far away.
1902 Daily Chron. 6 Feb. 5/2 During the great..strike..a rhyme went round beginning ‘There is a happy land, far, far way [sic], Where no blacklegs ever go’.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xvii. 365 There is a happy land by the ‘Red School’ Where Miss Macdonald stands, preaching like a fool.
2011 Liverpool Echo (Nexis) 18 Apr. 36 We will always miss our Nannie, we don't really understand, our Mummy says she's happy now Nannies back with Grandad in a happy land.
happy landings int. (esp. among aircraft personnel) used as a drinking toast to good fortune and prosperity; (also) used to wish people travelling on an aircraft a safe journey.
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1918 Sat. Evening Post 15 June 70/4 As though on a signal from a stage manager, the lights flipped on, and then together we drank the airman's toast, which is: ‘Happy landings!’
1934 Evening News 25 July 4/5 Ronnie swallowed half the whisky... ‘Happy landings, Phyllis..dear!’.. The powder left his fingers, missed the glass.
1953 P. Frankau Winged Horse iii. ii. 199 The glass lifted. ‘Happy Landings,’ Carey said.
1998 P. Jooste Dance with Poor Man's Daughter (1999) xiii. 237 We stand at our gate and wave to them and shout after them and say good luck and happy landings and all the best.
happy medium n. the avoidance of extremes of behaviour; = golden mean n. 1; (more widely) an intermediate state which represents an agreeable balance or compromise between extremes.
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the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [noun] > happy medium
merry meana1475
golden mediocrity?1510
middle mean1577
happy medium1629
chastity1712
1629 S. Austin Vrania ii. 69 'Twas not in vaine I made thee feele the horrors of thy paine; But as a happie medium to enforce Thy deadned soule the sooner to remorce.
1775 E. Pendleton Let. 24 Dec. in Lett. & Papers (1967) I. 142 I hope some happy medium will be suggested to effect the purpose and make you easy.
1816 J. Austen Emma II. iii. 46 My father would say ‘yes’, Mr. Knightley, ‘no’; and Miss Bates and I that he is just the happy medium . View more context for this quotation
1901 G. Ade 40 Mod. Fables 51 Moral: only one in a thousand ever strikes the happy medium.
1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) x. 156 Ain't there no bloody happy medium?
2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 28 May d10/2 Check out the..Access to Design program—a happy medium between hiring a decorator and DIYing it.
happy pair n. = happy couple n.
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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > people connected with wedding > [noun] > newly married couple
bride couple1632
happy pair1697
?1610 J. Fletcher Faithfull Shepheardesse ii. sig. D4 These happy paire of louers meet straight way, Soone as they fould their flockes vp with the day.
1697 J. Dryden Alexander's Feast i. 1 The Lovely Thais by his side, Sate like a blooming Eastern Bride..Happy, happy, happy Pair!
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter xiv. 126 (title) The next song is intitled and call'd The Happy Pair.
1826 M. Wilmot Let. 19 Oct. in E. Londonderry & H. M. Hyde More Lett. M. Wilmot (1935) 252 There's a marriage, in return for your Village wedding... The happy pair are at Saltzburg.
1946 T. Rattigan Winslow Boy i. 29 Happy pair, I think, is the phrase that is eluding you.
2004 Eve Dec. 65/1 If your man has dumped you for another woman, the latest way of getting revenge is hiring a ‘couple-buster’ and breaking the happy pair up.
happy pill n. a pill intended to produce or induce happiness; spec. a tranquillizer or stimulant.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > sedatives, antispasmodics, etc. > [noun] > tranquillizer > pill
happy pill1956
1956 A. Huxley Let. 14 Mar. (1969) 791 The present mass consumption of ‘Happy Pills’, (Miltown-Equanil).
1966 I. Asimov Fantastic Voy. i. 11 You've got that tranquillizer gleam in your eye, doctor. I don't need any happy pills.
2005 E. Barr Plan B (2006) xxvii. 272 I'm going to make an appointment with the doctor, and I'm going to take you there myself, and we're going to get you some happy pills.
happy place n. originally North American (with possessive adjective) a place which a person associates with happiness, visualized as a means of reducing stress, calming down, etc.; (hence) a happy state of mind.
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1994 Ottawa Citizen 28 June b3/1 She was having this one contraction, and she was having a real hard time with it... I told her, ‘Think of your happy place. Find your happy place and think of how much fun we'll have there’.
2004 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 15 Feb. viii. 7 (advt.) Whether it's relaxing under the hands of a trained Swedish masseuse or swinging a club under a sunny blue sky, we will take you to your perfect ‘happy place’, mentally and physically.
2009 Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 20 Mar. 40 Now when I'm annoyed, like when I'm arguing with my sister, I go to my happy place and I don't want to hit her.
happy release n. (an allusion to) a person's death as a resolution of the troubles of earthly life; (in extended use) an escape from an annoying or troublesome situation.
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1599 L. A. tr. M. Martínez Eighth Bk. Myrror of Knighthood iii. iii. xxvii. sig. Ii2 Till the raging tempest of Fortunes fury be ore-blow'n, And I of all turmoyles shall haue a happie release.
1701 J. Woodward Divine Joy Relig. 9 Religion..gives the faithful Servant of God many Promises of Divine Support and Relief, and, in due time of a happy Release from all Sorrow.
1864 C. Dickens Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy in All Year Round 1 Dec. 7/2 Then I shouldn't have the agonies of trying to understand him which was a happy release.
1929 E. Bowen Joining Charles 122 She was such a good soul—it seemed quite a happy release.
1990 Dict. Canad. Biogr. XII. 1045/2 Some Conservatives..saw the Privy Council decision as a happy release from the afflictions of the Manitoba school question.
2012 Northern Star & Rural Weekly (New S. Wales) (Nexis) 25 Jan. 23 Dying..is often a happy release for both the deceased and those who are left to grieve.
happy-sad adj. that combines elements of happiness and sadness; simultaneously happy and sad; bittersweet.
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1851 Monthly Christian Spectator Dec. 778 From mists around that mark decline Condensing oft a tear, Its willow beauty, happy-sad Doth Love of Life still wear.
1966 North Adams (Mass.) Transcript 25 Mar. 12/4 For Dr Hayes it will be a happy-sad occasion.
2001 M. Blake 24 Karat Schmooze xvi. 182 ‘Ta-ra then,’ she said, crinkling her face in that happy-sad way. ‘Bye.’
happy ship n. a ship on which the crew work together harmoniously; figurative an organization characterized by team spirit, easy collaboration, and high morale.
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society > society and the community > social relations > co-operation > [noun] > example of harmonious co-operation
happy ship1845
dream team1938
1845 Southern Literary Messenger Jan. 23/2 A frank and easy association with his subordinate officers,..‘a happy ship’.
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin iii. 43 The Belligerent was notoriously a happy ship.
1950 W. J. M. Mackenzie in G. F. M. Campion Brit. Govt. since 1918 83 A branch or a department may be a theoretical monstrosity and yet be a ‘happy ship’; and traditionally a ‘happy ship’ is the only efficient ship.
2008 Independent on Sunday 23 Nov. (New Review) 37/1 We all share values and we all work together. It's a happy ship.
happy talk n. (in news broadcasting) informal or light-hearted conversation, commentary, or bantering by presenters, esp. between the reporting of individual news items; (also) this style or format of news broadcasting.
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1971 N.Y. Mag. 28 June (front cover) The profitability of TV's ‘happy-talk’ news.
1973 Listener 30 Aug. 295 What Happy Talk means in fact is that the consumer-listener-viewer gets an inverted perspective of the world in which he lives. Even for domestic news, he is fed reaction rather than analysis.
1995 Inside Fort Collins (Colorado) 2 Feb. 2/3 I hunger for serious slabs of news slathered with details rather than the low-cal happy talk swill they serve up.
2011 Daily News (Jacksonville, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 9 Jan. Back in the good old days when I worked in TV news, local news was transitioning from the deadly seriousness of Walter Cronkite to what we called ‘happy talk’, where the anchors were expected to add a little light banter.
happy valley n. a place of remarkable beauty, tranquillity, and contentedness.Frequently with allusion to the earthly paradise depicted in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas; cf. quot. 1759.
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1759 S. Johnson Rasselas I. ii. 10 Here the sons and daughters of Abissinia..were daily entertained with songs, the subject of which was the happy valley.
1845 W. A. Caruthers Knights of Horse-shoe xvi. 57 ‘It is..almost a perfect terrestrial paradise, abounding in deer, elk, buffalo, and game of every sort—the land teeming with wild fruits of every kind, and bright with the purest fountains of water that ever gushed from the solid rocks.’ ‘O aye, I know that is your opinion, but..you were a mere boy when you left that happy valley’.
1938 D. Du Maurier Rebecca x. 130 On either side of the narrow path stood azaleas and rhododendrons,..things of beauty and grace... ‘We call it the Happy Valley,’ he said.
2002 Observer (Nexis) 27 Oct. 56 The media trumpets the message that sex brings happiness. If this were true, we would indeed live in an earthly paradise and the world would be ‘happy valley’.
happy warrior n. a person undaunted by difficulty (esp. as a conventional designation of a good soldier).
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > type of soldier generally > [noun] > good
happy warrior1596
1596 Z. Jones tr. M. Barleti Hist. G. Castriot v. 172 I will see from whence he hath that corporall strength and vigour: and in what this happie warriour..doth excell and surpasse all others.
1693 N. Lee in J. Dryden Examen Poeticum iii. 168 Hail, happy Warriour! hail! whose Arms have won The fairest Jewel in the English Crown.
1785 J. Champion tr. Firdawsī Poems viii. 305 With the first dawn the happy warior [sic] rose.
1806 W. Wordsworth Char. Happy Warrior 1 Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he That every man in arms should wish to be?
1915 D. O. Barnett Let. 17 May in In Happy Memory 200 The ‘happy warrior’ who did the deed is in my platoon, one Finlay, and his hair is red.
1924 F. D. Roosevelt in N.Y. Times 27 June 4/3 He [sc. Alfred E. Smith] is the ‘Happy Warrior’ of the political battlefield.
1959 Listener 12 Nov. 843/3 Ernest Jones was a happy warrior.
2006 New Yorker 30 Oct. 51/2 As for Jim Webb, he seemed, by the ending days of the campaign, only to be something less than the Happy Warrior.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
happyv.
/ˈhapi/, U.S. /ˈhæpi/ transitive. To make happy. In later use also with up.
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the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > make happy [verb (transitive)]
emblissc1430
happy1600
happify1612
enhappy1626
felicitate1628
felicify1683
1600 N. Breton Mad-cappes Message in Pasquils Mad-cap 29 While onely Trueth that walkes by Wisedomes line, Happieth the heart and makes the soule diuine.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets vi. sig. B2 That vse is not forbidden vsery, Which happies those that pay the willing lone.
1632 T. Heywood 2nd Pt. Iron Age sig. I3v We are happied euer.
1877 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 10) xxiii. 368 Her heart he loved, Would the whole firmament of his life exhaust In happying her, unnoisefully.
1907 Junior Herald 24 Aug. 333/3 O mother, Walter was cross, but I happied him up so that he got all over it.
1983 Car & Driver Dec. 14/1 This also happied me (new word, ‘happied’). When you think about it, there's probably nothing better than a ‘virgin California virgin aluminum Moon wheel disk’.
1999 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 7 Nov. (Mag.) 5/3 And happied it up a bit, of course.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1387
v.1600