3 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Happiness \Hap"pi*ness\, n. [From {Happy}.]
1. Good luck; good fortune; prosperity.
All happiness bechance to thee in Milan! --Shak.
2. An agreeable feeling or condition of the soul arising from
good fortune or propitious happening of any kind the
possession of those circumstances or that state of being
which is attended enjoyment; the state of being happy;
contentment; joyful satisfaction; felicity; blessedness.
3. Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace; -- used especially
of language.
Some beauties yet no precepts can declare, For
there's a happiness, as well as care --Pope.
Syn: {Happiness}, {Felicity}, {Blessedness}, {Bliss}.
Usage: Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every
kind of enjoyment except that of the animal appetites;
felicity is a more formal word and is used more
sparingly in the same general sense but with elevated
associations; blessedness is applied to the most
refined enjoyment arising from the purest social,
benevolent, and religious affections; bliss denotes
still more exalted delight, and is applied more
appropriately to the joy anticipated in heaven.
O happiness! our being's end and aim! --Pope.
Others in virtue place felicity, But virtue
joined with riches and long life; In corporal
pleasures he and careless ease. --Milton.
His overthrow heaped happiness upon him For
then, and not till then, he felt himself, And
found the blessedness of being little. --Shak.
From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
happiness
n 1: state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from
contentment to intense joy [syn: {felicity}] [ant: {unhappiness}]
2: emotions experienced when in a state of well-being [ant: {sadness}]
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
HAPPINESS, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the
misery of another.
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