Adjacent Words

Merry definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MER'RY, a.
1. Gay and noisy; jovial; exhilarated to laughter.
Man is the merriest species of the creation.
They drank and were merry with him. Genesis 43.
2. Causing laughter or mirth; as a merry jest.
3. Brisk; as a merry gale. [This is the primary sense of the word.]
4. Pleasant; agreeable; delightful.
To make merry, to be jovial; to indulge in hilarity; to feast with mirth. Judges 9.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: full of or showing high-spirited merriment; "when hearts were young and gay"; "a poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company"- Wordsworth; "the jolly crowd at the reunion"; "jolly old Saint Nick"; "a jovial old gentleman"; "have a merry Christmas"; "peals of merry laughter"; "a mirthful laugh" [syn: gay, jocund, jolly, jovial, merry, mirthful]
2: offering fun and gaiety; "a festive (or festal) occasion"; "gay and exciting night life"; "a merry evening" [syn: gay, festal, festive, merry]
3: quick and energetic; "a brisk walk in the park"; "a lively gait"; "a merry chase"; "traveling at a rattling rate"; "a snappy pace"; "a spanking breeze" [syn: alert, brisk, lively, merry, rattling, snappy, spanking, zippy]

Merriam Webster's

adjective (merrier; -est) Etymology: Middle English mery, from Old English myrge, merge; akin to Old High German murg short — more at brief Date: before 12th century 1. archaic giving pleasure ; delightful 2. full of gaiety or high spirits ; mirthful 3. marked by festivity or gaiety 4. quick, brisk <a merry pace> • merrily adverb • merriness noun Synonyms: merry, blithe, jocund, jovial, jolly mean showing high spirits or lightheartedness. merry suggests cheerful, joyous, uninhibited enjoyment of frolic or festivity <a merry group of revelers>. blithe suggests carefree, innocent, or even heedless gaiety <arrived late in his usual blithe way>. jocund stresses elation and exhilaration of spirits <singing, dancing, and jocund feasting>. jovial suggests the stimulation of conviviality and good fellowship <dinner put them in a jovial mood>. jolly suggests high spirits expressed in laughing, bantering, and jesting <our jolly host enlivened the party>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (merrier, merriest) 1 a joyous. b full of laughter or gaiety. 2 Brit. colloq. slightly drunk. Phrases and idioms: make merry 1 be festive; enjoy oneself. 2 (foll. by over) make fun of. merry andrew a mountebank's assistant; a clown or buffoon. merry thought esp. Brit. the wishbone of a bird. play merry hell with see HELL. Derivatives: merrily adv. merriness n. Etymology: OE myrige f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Merry Mer"ry, a. [Compar. Merrier; superl. Merriest.] [OE. merie, mirie, murie, merry, pleasant, AS. merge, myrige, pleasant; cf. murge, adv.; prob. akin to OHG. murg, short, Goth. gama['u]rgjan to shorten; cf. L. murcus a coward, who cuts off his thumb to escape military service; the Anglo-Saxon and English meanings coming from the idea of making the time seem short. Cf. Mirth.] 1. Laughingly gay; overflowing with good humor and good spirits; jovial; inclined to laughter or play; sportive. They drank, and were merry with him. --Gen. xliii. 34. I am never merry when I hear sweet music. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Merry Mer"ry, n. (Bot.) A kind of wild red cherry.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(merrier, merriest) 1. If you describe someone's character or behaviour as merry, you mean that they are happy and cheerful. (OLD-FASHIONED) From the house come the bursts of merry laughter... = jolly ADJ • merrily Chris threw back his head and laughed merrily. ADV: ADV after v 2. If you get merry, you get slightly drunk. (BRIT INFORMAL) They went off to Glengarriff to get merry. = tipsy ADJ: v-link ADJ 3. Some people use merry to emphasize something that they are saying, often when they want to express disapproval or humour. It hasn't stopped the British Navy proceeding on its merry way... ADJ: ADJ n [emphasis] 4. see also merrily 5. Just before Christmas and on Christmas Day, people say 'Merry Christmas' to other people to express the hope that they will have a happy time. Merry Christmas, everyone... I just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas... CONVENTION [formulae] 6. to play merry hell: see hell

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Pleasant, agreeable, exhilarating, delightful, brisk, lively, stirring. 2. Mirthful, jovial, gleeful, gay, hilarious, sportive, jocund, joyous, facetious, lively, jolly, buxom, frolicsome, blithe, blithesome, airy, gladsome, vivacious, wanton, light-hearted, cheerful. 3. Mirthful, sportive, comical, droll, gleeful, funny, sprightly. 4. Sarcastic, satirical.

Moby Thesaurus

addled, animated, beery, bemused, besotted, blind drunk, blithe, blithesome, boon, buoyant, buxom, carefree, carouse, celebrate, cheerful, cheery, convivial, crapulent, crapulous, delighted, dizzy, drenched, drunk, drunken, exhilarating, exuberant, far-gone, festal, festive, flustered, fou, frivolous, frolic, full, gala, gay, giddy, glad, gladsome, gleeful, glorious, happy, hilarious, in liquor, inebriate, inebriated, inebrious, intoxicated, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, jubilant, laughter-loving, light-hearted, lighthearted, lively, mad, make merry, maudlin, mellow, merrymaking, mirth-loving, mirthful, muddled, nappy, on the loose, reeling, rejoicing, revel, riant, risible, shikker, sodden, sotted, sprightly, tiddly, tipsy, unconstrained, under the influence, vivacious, wild