different between happy vs wonderful
happy
English
Etymology
From Middle English happy (“fortunate, happy”), perhaps an alteration of Middle English happyn, happen (“fortunate, happy”), from Old Norse heppinn (“fortunate, happy”); assimilated to be equivalent to hap (“chance, luck, fortune”) +? -y. Compare also Icelandic heppinn (“lucky”), Scots happin (“fortunate, blessed”). See further at hap.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?hæpi?/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?hæpi/
- Rhymes: -æpi
- Hyphenation: hap?py
Adjective
happy (comparative happier or more happy, superlative happiest or most happy)
- Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, such as comfort, peace, or tranquillity; blissful, contented, joyous.
- 1731, Thomas Bayes, Divine Benevolence: or, An Attempt to Prove that the Principal End of the Divine Providence and Government is the Happiness of His Creatures: Being an Answer to a Pamphlet, Entitled, Divine Rectitude; or, An Inquiry Concerning the Moral Perfections of the Deity. With a Refutation of the Notions therein Advanced Concerning Beauty and Order, the Reason of Punishment, and the Necessity of a State of Trial antecedent to Perfect Happiness, London: Printed for John Noon, at the White-Hart in Cheapside, near Mercers-Chapel, OCLC 642498368; quoted in Andrew I. Dale, Most Honourable Remembrance: The Life and Work of Thomas Bayes (Studies and Sources in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences), New York, N.Y.: Springer, 2003, ISBN 978-0-387-00499-0, page 138:
- […] For the most happy universe is not one that consists of the greatest possible number of the most happy beings only; but one that consists of that, and the greatest possible number of beings next inferior to the first rank, and so downward, till we come to those that approach the nearest to insensible matter.
- 1731, Thomas Bayes, Divine Benevolence: or, An Attempt to Prove that the Principal End of the Divine Providence and Government is the Happiness of His Creatures: Being an Answer to a Pamphlet, Entitled, Divine Rectitude; or, An Inquiry Concerning the Moral Perfections of the Deity. With a Refutation of the Notions therein Advanced Concerning Beauty and Order, the Reason of Punishment, and the Necessity of a State of Trial antecedent to Perfect Happiness, London: Printed for John Noon, at the White-Hart in Cheapside, near Mercers-Chapel, OCLC 642498368; quoted in Andrew I. Dale, Most Honourable Remembrance: The Life and Work of Thomas Bayes (Studies and Sources in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences), New York, N.Y.: Springer, 2003, ISBN 978-0-387-00499-0, page 138:
- Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky, propitious.
- (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- Content, satisfied (with or to do something); having no objection (to something).
- (Of acts, speech, etc.) Appropriate, apt, felicitous.
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 58:
- ‘I had the happy notion of adding an egg,’ Williams shouted back. ‘It poaches in the soup. Not unlike an Italian stracciatella. Singularly toothsome...’
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 58:
- (in combination) Favoring or inclined to use.
- (rare, of people, often followed by "at" or "in") Dexterous, ready, skilful.
Usage notes
- (contented, joyous): Said of people, hours, times, thoughts, etc.
- (fortunate, lucky): Said of efforts, expedients, omens, ventures, etc.
Alternative forms
- happie (obsolete)
Synonyms
- (contented, joyous): cheerful, content, delighted, elated, exultant, glad, joyful, jubilant, merry, orgasmic
- (fortunate, lucky): fortunate, lucky, propitious
- See also Thesaurus:happy
Antonyms
- (contented, joyous): blue, depressed, down, miserable, moody, morose, sad, unhappy
- (fortunate, lucky): unfortunate, unlucky, unpropitious
- (content, satisfied): disenchanted, dissatisfied
- (appropriate, apt): inappropriate, inapt, unfelicitous
Derived terms
Descendants
- ? German: happy
- ? Welsh: hapus (calque)
- ? Japanese: ????
Translations
Noun
happy (plural happies)
- (informal, rare) A happy event, thing, person, etc.
Verb
happy (third-person singular simple present happies, present participle happying, simple past and past participle happied)
- (intransitive, informal) Often followed by up: to become happy; to brighten up, to cheer up.
- (transitive, informal) Often followed by up: to make happy; to brighten, to cheer, to enliven.
Synonyms
- (to make happy): happify
Further reading
- Happy (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
German
Etymology
Borrowed from English happy.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?h?pi/
Adjective
happy (comparative happyer, superlative am happysten)
- (colloquial, chiefly predicative) glad; satisfied; momentarily happy
Usage notes
- The German word is used as a synonym of froh (“glad, momentarily happy”) rather than glücklich (“happy, both momentarily and generally in life”).
- On the rare occasion that this adjective is used attributively, the positive form happy typically remains undeclined, whereas the comparation forms are declined in the normal fashion.
happy From the web:
- what happy couples know
- what happy people know
- what happy meal toy is next
- what happy national day is it
- what happy birthday
- what happy meal toys are worth money
- what happy means
- what happy looks like
wonderful
English
Alternative forms
- wonderfool (eye dialect), woonderful (eye dialect), wonderfull (archaic), wondreful (obsolete), wondrefull (obsolete), 1drfl (internet slang)
Etymology
From Middle English wonderful, wondirful, from Old English wundorful (“wonderful”), from Proto-West Germanic *wundrafull, equivalent to wonder +? -ful. Cognate Dutch wondervol (“wonderful”), German wundervoll (“wonderful”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?w?n.d?.fl/
- (US) IPA(key): /?w?n.d?.fl?/
- Rhymes: blunderful
Adjective
wonderful (comparative wonderfuller or wonderfuler or more wonderful, superlative wonderfullest or wonderfulest or most wonderful)
- Tending to excite wonder; surprising, extraordinary.
- 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 278:
- He is massively corrupt. It is wonderful how the man's popularity survives.
- 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 278:
- Surprisingly excellent; very good or admirable, extremely impressive.
- They served a wonderful six-course meal.
Synonyms
- (excellent, extremely impressive): great, amazing, astonishing, incredible, marvelous, fantastic, frabjous, mint
- See also Thesaurus:wonderful
- See also Thesaurus:excellent
Antonyms
- (excellent, extremely impressive): terrible, horrible
Translations
Adverb
wonderful (not comparable)
- (dialect) Exceedingly, to a great extent.
Related terms
- women are wonderful effect
- wonder
- wonderfully
- wonderland
- wonderment
- wondrous
Anagrams
- underflow, wondreful
wonderful From the web:
- what wonderful world
- what wonderful world lyrics
- what wonderful things you will be
- what wonderful name it is
- what wonderful name it is lyrics
- what wonderful news
- what wonderful world louis armstrong
- what wonderful person was born in june
you may also like
- happy vs wonderful
- limited vs summarised
- obliging vs pleasing
- emend vs rectify
- force vs group
- radiancy vs sparkle
- glitter vs scintillate
- crowded vs intense
- angelic vs unearthly
- energising vs refreshing
- untrue vs depraved
- braininess vs acuity
- open vs unsophisticated
- guardianship vs administration
- decisive vs incontrovertible
- uncontrollable vs boisterous
- array vs attach
- untutored vs unversed
- friendly vs mannerly
- winning vs beaut