different between blissful vs sublime

English

Alternative forms

• blissfull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English blisful, bislvol, equivalent to bliss +? -ful.

Adjective

blissful (comparative more blissful, superlative most blissful)

1. Extremely happy; full of joy; experiencing, indicating, causing, or characterized by bliss.
   • 1738, Samuel Johnson, "London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal", lines 25-26,

     In pleasing dreams the blissful age renew,

     And call Britannia's glories back to view;

   • 1983, James Hijiya, "American Gravestones and Attitudes toward Death: A Brief History," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 127, no. 5., page 349,

     New England carvers between the 1720s and the 1750s transformed, step by step, the winged skull into the winged face, adding flesh to bare bone and turning the toothy grin of death into the blissful smile of a saved soul.

2. (obsolete) Blessed; glorified.
   • c1387, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Prioress' Tale," in The Canterbury Tales,

     Thus had this widow her little son y-taught

     Our blissful Lady, Christe's mother dear,

     To worship aye

Usage notes

"Blissful" occasionally has the extra connotation that a person is extremely happy because he or she fails to recognize or accept certain adversities or other harsh realities.

Synonyms

• ecstatic
• elated
• euphoric
• joyful
• orgasmic
• overjoyed
• rapturous
• on cloud nine
• See also Thesaurus:blissful

Derived terms

• blissfully
• blissfulness

Translations

References

• blissful in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “blissful”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)

Anagrams

• fullsibs

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??bla?m/
• Rhymes: -a?m

Etymology 1

From Middle English sublimen, borrowed from Old French sublimer, from Latin sublim? (“to raise on high; to sublimate (in Medieval Latin)”).

Verb

sublime (third-person singular simple present sublimes, present participle subliming, simple past and past participle sublimed)

1. (chemistry, physics, transitive, intransitive) To sublimate.
2. (transitive) To raise on high.
   • 1857, E. P. Whipple, Harper's Magazine

     a soul sublimed by an idea above the region of vanity and conceit

3. (transitive) To exalt; to heighten; to improve; to purify.

   Synonym: (archaic) sublimate
4. (transitive) To dignify; to ennoble.
   • a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, Clerus Domini, or, A discourse of the divine institution, necessity, sacredness, and separation of the office ministerial together with the nature and manner of its power and operation

     An ordinary gift cannot sublime a person to a supernatural employment.

Related terms

• sublimation

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle French sublime, from Latin subl?mis (“high”), from sub- (“up to, upwards”) + a root of uncertain affiliation often identified with Latin l?mis, ablative singular of l?mus (“oblique”) or l?men (“threshold, entrance, lintel”)

Adjective

sublime (comparative sublimer, superlative sublimest)

1. Noble and majestic.
   • 1842, Thomas De Quincey, Cicero (published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine)

     the sublime Julian leader

2. Impressive and awe-inspiring, yet simple.
3. (obsolete) Lifted up; high in place; exalted aloft; uplifted; lofty.

   • Sublime on these a tower of steel is reared.

4. (obsolete) Elevated by joy; elated.
5. Lofty of mien; haughty; proud.

Related terms

• subliminal

Translations

Noun

sublime (plural sublimes)

1. Something sublime.

Translations

Anagrams

• blueism

Danish

Adjective

sublime

1. definite of sublim
2. plural of sublim

French

Etymology

From Middle French sublime, borrowed from Latin sublimis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sy.blim/
• Rhymes: -im

Adjective

sublime (plural sublimes)

1. sublime, extraordinary

Derived terms

• Sublime Porte

Verb

sublime

1. inflection of sublimer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “sublime” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

sublime

1. inflection of sublim:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sublimis.

Adjective

sublime (plural sublimi)

1. sublime

Related terms

• sublimità

Latin

Adjective

subl?me

1. vocative masculine singular of subl?mus

References

• sublime in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sublime in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sublime in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin subl?mus.

Adjective

sublime m or f (plural sublimes)

1. sublime (noble, majestic, magnificent, etc.)

Descendants

• French: sublime

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /su.?bli.m?/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /su.?bli.m?/
• Hyphenation: su?bli?me

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin subl?mis.

Adjective

sublime m or f (plural sublimes, comparable)

1. sublime

Noun

sublime m, f (plural sublimes)

1. sublime

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

sublime

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of sublimar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of sublimar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of sublimar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of sublimar

Related terms

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sublimis.

Adjective

sublime (plural sublimes)

1. sublime

Verb

sublime

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of sublimar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of sublimar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of sublimar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of sublimar.