gleefully

American

[glee-fuhl-ee] / ˈgli fəl i /

adverb

with exultant, often mischievous joy or delight; merrily.

My little niece snapped a photo of her mama and gleefully showed us the image she just captured.

Other Word Forms

ungleefully adverb

Etymology

Origin of gleefully

First recorded in 1730–40; gleeful ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

Explanation

When you do something gleefully, you do it in an extremely happy way. If two kids call to each other gleefully across the playground, there's laughter and delight in their voices. Wedding guests might rush gleefully onto the dance floor when the DJ plays a popular song, and a child who is trick or treating for the first time will often gleefully dress in her ghost costume and even more gleefully watch her plastic pumpkin fill with Halloween candy. The adjective gleeful and related noun glee are at the root of gleefully, all of them sharing the Latin root word gliu, "entertainment, mirth, jest, or play."

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Later, a stranger gleefully approaches Kornev, convinced he knows him, and the effect is chilling — a glitch in the matrix in which human connection briefly flourishes.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Kevin Hart, LeBron James, Marshawn Lynch and Jamie Foxx are just a small sampling of Black celebrities who have since aligned with major online sportsbooks as ambassadors, gleefully appearing in ads for them.

From Salon • Feb. 8, 2026

When asked what it was, she gleefully gave it and added: "Call me any time!"

From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026

The Patriots spent two decades gleefully bullying the Jets, led by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

“And I took Melyngar from the stable. They are hidden in the woods outside the castle. It’s all done now,” Eilonwy said gleefully.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

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