happiness

[hap-ee-nis] /ˈhæp i nɪs/
noun
1.
the quality or state of being happy.
2.
good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.
Origin
1520-30; happy + -ness
Related forms
overhappiness, noun
Synonyms
1, 2. pleasure, joy, exhilaration, bliss, contentedness, delight, enjoyment, satisfaction. Happiness, bliss, contentment, felicity imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction. Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good: the happiness of visiting one's family. Bliss is unalloyed happiness or supreme delight: the bliss of perfect companionship. Contentment is a peaceful kind of happiness in which one rests without desires, even though every wish may not have been gratified: contentment in one's surroundings. Felicity is a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind: to wish a young couple felicity in life.
Antonyms
1. misery.
Examples from the web for happiness
  • There may be a literal truth underlying the common-sense intuition that happiness and sadness are contagious.
  • The secret to happiness, it turns out, may not be wealth or power.
  • He is working on a documentary about happiness.
  • School vacations are starting and the happiness of the children is equaled only by the happiness of their teachers.
  • Instead, the best recipe for happiness is to have had loving, caring parents.
  • From a professional perspective, this development does not make for happiness.
  • In even a dark, dark time you can find happiness.
  • William is a true adventurer who finds happiness in sharing his experiences.
  • This Declaration proclaims that among the inalienable rights of man are "liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
  • Money could not buy them happiness.
Word Origin and History for happiness
n.

1520s, "good fortune," from happy + -ness. Meaning "pleasant and contented mental state" is from 1590s. Phrase greatest happiness for the greatest number was in Hutcheson (1725).