cheerfulness

English

Alternative forms

• chearfulness (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English cherefulnes; equivalent to cheerful +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪɹfəlnəs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪəfəlnəs/
• Hyphenation: cheer‧ful‧ness

Noun

cheerfulness (usually uncountable, plural cheerfulnesses)

1. The state of being cheerful; joy.

   Synonyms: glee, jollity; see also Thesaurus:happiness

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 12:8:

     Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giueth, let him doe it with simplicitie: hee that ruleth, with diligence: hee that sheweth mercy, with cheerefulnesse.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 16:

     The banded ones were all dressed in white gowns - a gay survival from Old Style days, when cheerfulness and May-time were synonyms - days before the habit of taking long views had reduced emotions to a monotonous average.

Translations

the state of being cheerful; joy

• Bulgarian: жизнерадост (bg) f (žizneradost)
• Czech: veselost (cs) f, radost (cs) f, štěstí (cs) n
• Dutch: vrolijkheid (nl) f
• Georgian: ხალისიანობა (xalisianoba), სიხალისე (sixalise), სიცოცხლის ხალისი (sicocxlis xalisi), გულმხიარულობა (gulmxiaruloba), მხიარულობა (mxiaruloba)
• Greek:

  Ancient: εὐθυμία f (euthumía)

• Hindi: प्रफुल्लता (praphullatā), खुशमिज़ाजी (khuśmizājī)
• Irish: spéiriúlacht f
• Latin: hilaritas f
• Latvian: jautrība f
• Macedonian: веселост f (veselost)
• Romanian: veselie (ro) f
• Russian: жизнерадостность (ru) (žizneradostnostʹ)
• Swahili: ukunjufu (sw)