different between cheerful vs merrily

English

Alternative forms

• cheerfull (archaic)
• chearful (archaic or dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English chereful, cherful, equivalent to cheer +? -ful.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?t????f?l/, /?t????f?l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?t????f?l/, /?t????f?l/
• Hyphenation: cheer?ful
• Rhymes: -??rf?l

Adjective

cheerful (comparative more cheerful, superlative most cheerful)

1. Noticeably happy and optimistic.

   Synonyms: bright, bubbly, cheerly, ebullient, happy, joyful, merry, optimistic, vivacious; see also Thesaurus:happy

   Antonyms: depressed, miserable, sad

2. Bright and pleasant.

   • At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English merily, from Old English myri?l??e; equivalent to merry +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m???li/
• Hyphenation: mer?ri?ly

Adverb

merrily (comparative more merrily, superlative most merrily)

1. In a cheerful or merry way.

   • Ariell:

     Where the Bee ?ucks, there ?uck I,

     In a Cowslips bell, I lie,

     There I cowch when Owles doe crie,

     On the Batts backe I doe flie

     ? after Sommer merrily.

     Merrily, merrily, ?hall I liue now

     Vnder the blo??om that hangs on the Bow.

Translations