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JOYFUL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Full of or producing joy
Example:
a joyful occasion
Classified under:
Similar:
beatific (experiencing or bestowing celestial joy)
overjoyed (extremely joyful)
Also:
happy (enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure)
joyous (full of or characterized by joy)
Antonym:
sorrowful (experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss)
Derivation:
joyfulness (the emotion of great happiness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Full of high-spirited delight
Example:
a joyful heart
Synonyms:
elated; gleeful; joyful; jubilant
Classified under:
Similar:
joyous (full of or characterized by joy)
Derivation:
joyfulness (the emotion of great happiness)
Context examples:
It was enough to set his heart in a glow, and to bring him home in the properest state for feeling the full value of the other joyful surprises at hand.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Then she went to the king, and told him the joyful tidings, and when the time was come she gave birth to a son, and the king was filled with gladness.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
And each time the joyful bark that trembled in Buck’s throat was twisted into a savage growl.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
An' I'll bet he's not particularly joyful at seein' others have a good time.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
In the course of the morning which saw this business arranged, she visited Miss Tilney, and poured forth her joyful feelings.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Aunt March went today, for which, oh, be joyful! said Jo. I was mortally afraid she'd ask me to go with her.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
“Mas'r Davy, 'tis a joyful hour as I see you, once more, 'long with your own trew wife!”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
You have quite a joyful month ahead.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
The event, however, was most joyful; and every day was giving her fresh reason for thinking so.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
It was joyful to hear the merry whistle of blackbirds as they darted from one clump of greenery to the other.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
