Advertisement

View synonyms for joy

joy

1

[ joi ]

noun

  1. the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation:

    She felt the joy of seeing her son's success.

    Synonyms: rapture

    Antonyms: unhappiness, grief, sorrow, misery

  2. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated:

    Her prose style is a pure joy.

  3. the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety.
  4. a state of happiness or felicity.

    Synonyms: bliss



verb (used without object)

  1. to feel joy; be glad; rejoice.

verb (used with object)

  1. Obsolete. to gladden.

Joy

2
or Joye

[ joi ]

noun

  1. a female given name.

joy

/ dʒɔɪ /

noun

  1. a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment
  2. something causing such a feeling; a source of happiness
  3. an outward show of pleasure or delight; rejoicing
  4. informal.
    success; satisfaction

    I went to the bank for a loan, but got no joy

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. intr to feel joy
  2. obsolete.
    tr to make joyful; gladden
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Other Words From

  • un·joyed adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of joy1

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English joy(e), from Old French joie, joye, from Late Latin gaudia, neuter plural (taken as feminine singular) of Latin gaudium “joy,” equivalent to gaud- (base of gaudēre “to be glad”) + -ium -ium
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of joy1

C13: from Old French joie, from Latin gaudium joy, from gaudēre to be glad
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

see burst with (joy) ; pride and joy .
Discover More

Synonym Study

Discover More

Example Sentences

It jettisons jiggling ribbons of joy to every part of my body.

Marrying another Jew was not just a personal simcha (joy), but one for the community.

There was real joy on his face doling out the cigars and giving some to his wife to pass out from the box.

Joy Woodhouse calls in to tell her bickering boys Brad and Dallas to “get this out of your system” before Christmas.

It takes Sharp four hours to get into character: “I take joy in the mathematical, symmetrical precision and perfectness of Bach.”

Her new joy and excitement, her gaiety and zest for life— all had been caused, not by himself, but by another.

In Manila particularly, amidst the pealing of bells and strains of music, unfeigned enthusiasm and joy were everywhere evident.

Light, the symbol of life's joy, seems to be the first language in which the spirit of beauty speaks to a child.

His holy book says: There is more joy over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine just men.

Then she won, and went half mad with the joy and excitement, but the joy didn't last long.

Advertisement

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


jowlyjoyance