Standard Lemma guide

merry

adj · name · noun · 13 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: mĕrʹē
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɛ.ɹi/
  • General-American: /ˈmɛ.ɹi/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger
  • US: nMmmm Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈmɛ(ə)ɹ.i/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger
  • US: Mmmm Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈmeɹ.i/
  • Scotland: /ˈmɛɹ.ɪ/
  • Scotland: /ˈmɛɹ.e/
  • /ˈmʌɹ.i/ Philadelphia, merry–Murray merger
  • homophone: Mary
  • homophone: marry (both only in accents with Mary–marry–merry merger)
  • homophone: Murray (merry–Murray merger)
  • rhymes with -ɛɹi
  • homophone: merry
  • homophone: marry (Mary–marry–merry merger)
  • CMU ARPABET: M EH1 R IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Jolly and full of high spirits; happy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • We had a very merry Christmas.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cheerful, content, ecstatic, exultant, gay, happy, jovial, joyful, pleased, berserk, blissed out, blithe, buoyant, chirpy, blithesome, bonnie, bright, cheerly, cheery, chuffed, cock-a-hoop, contented, convivial, delighted, ebullient, elated, enthusiastic, euphoric, excited, exhilarated, exuberant, fat and happy, gassed, gayful, giddy, glad, gladsome, gleeful, gleesome, hearty, hyped, high on life, joyous, merry, mirthsome, on cloud nine, overjoyed, overjoyous, over the moon, pacific, perky, placated, satisfied, stoked, thrilled, tickled pink, triumphant, vivacious, wealful, happy as a clam, happy as a clam at high water, happy as a lark, happy as a pig in mud, happy as a pig in shit, happy as a prince, happy as Larry, happy as the day is long, merry as a cricket, merry as a grig

Antonyms: miserable, unhappy

2

adj

Meaning 2

Festive and full of fun and laughter.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Everyone was merry at the party.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: convivial, gay, jovial

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Brisk.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The play moved along at a merry pace.
  • The car moved at a merry clip.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: energetic, lively, spirited, abuzz, active, agile, airy, alive, animate, animated, brisk, busy, busy as a bee, buxom, buzzing, diligent, driven, driving, dynamic, eager, effervescent, enthusiastic, expeditious, frisky, gay, genki, glowing, happy, hearty, impetuous, industrious, keen, kinetic, merry, mobile, motivated, moving, nimble, peppy, perky, restive, sassy, snappy, sprightly, sprunt, spry, vibrant, vigorous, vivacious, vivid, wanton, youthful, zealous, zestful, zippy

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a merry jest

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: delightful, gladful

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Drunk; tipsy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: euphemistic

Examples

  • Some of us got a little merry at the office Christmas party.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lushy, muzzy, squiffy, Adrian Quist, adrip, aled up, all mops and brooms, arseholed, a sheet in the wind, a sheet in the wind's eye, bedrunken, befuddled, beliquored, besotted, besotten, bevvied, bibacious, bibulous, binned, bingoed, bladdered, blasted, blewed, blind, blind drunk, blitzed, blocked, blootered, blottoed, blue, bollocksed, bombed, boozy, bosky, bottled, Brahms, Brahms and Liszt, budgy, bungalowed, bungfu, burlin', canned, clobbered, corned, cocked, cockeyed, crapulous, crocked, cunted, cup-shot, cup-shotten, cut, dead drunk, destroyed, disguised, drunk, drunk as a piper, drunked up, drunken, ebriated, ebriose, elephant's, elephant's trunk, elevated, faced, fap, fershnickered, flooey, floored, flush, flushed, flustered, fluted, fluthered, feeling no pain, fou, four sheets in the wind, fresh, fried, frosted, fuckered up, fuckfaced, fuddled, full, fuzzy-headed, fuzzy-minded, gassed, gattered, gee-eyed, gesuip, ginned, gished, glorious, groggified, groggy, half polluted, half cut, half lit, half seas over, hammered, have drink taken, have the sun in one's eyes, hazed, high as a Georgia pine, high as a kite, high, hog-whimpering, honkers, hooched up, hooted, hoovered, hosed, how came you so, impaired, in liquor, in one's altitudes, in one's cups, in the bag, in the drink, inebriate, inebriated, inebrious, insober, insobrietous, inter pocula, jaked, jarred, juiced, juiced up, kaylied, kettled, kisky, lamped, langered, langers, larruped, lash, lashed, lathered, legless, liquored up, liquory, lit, loaded, looped, loopy, loose, lubed, lubed up, lubricated, lushed, mabok, mad with it, maggot, maggoted, mashed, maudlin, medicated, messed up, monged, mortal, mortalled, Mozart and Liszt, muddled, muggy, mullered, munted, MWI, nappy, newted, nimptopsical, obfuscated, obliviated, off one's box, off one's head, off one's tits, oiled, oiled up, Oliver, Oliver Twist, on the ran tan, ossified, out of it, out of one's box, out of one's face, out of one's head, out of sight, overcome, overrefreshed, overtaken, paralytic, parlatic, pickled, pie-eyed, pixilated, plastered, ploughed, plowed, polluted, potshot, potted, pounded, primed, puggled, quisby, raddled, ratfaced, razzled, ripe, ripped, rolling, rubbered, sauced, sauced up, scammered, schloshed, schnockered, screwed, scuttered, sewed up, shedded, shellacked, shicker, shickered, shitty, skunked, slammed, slarmied, slizzard, sloppy drunk, sloshed, smashed, snockered, snookered, snozzled, snuffy, soaken, sodden, soshed, sotted, sottish, souped-up, soused, sozzled, sozzly, spanceled, spannered, spiffed, splashed, spongy, sprung, squiffed, steamboats, stewed, stinking, stinko, stoated, stoned, stonkered, stotious, strut, swacked, tanked, tanked up, temulent, temulentive, three sheets in the wind, three sheets to the wind, throwed, tight as a tick, tight, tilted, tippled, tipsy, tired and emotional, toasted, top-heavy, top-heavy with drink, toping, trashed, tuned, twatfaced, twisted, wastey, wazzed, wazzocked, well-oiled, wellied, wet, whittled, withered, wobbly, woozy, worse for liquor, worse for wear, wrecked, zoned, zonked, zooted, zorched, zotzed

Antonyms: none provided

6

name

Meaning 6

A surname transferred from the nickname. Originally a nickname for a merry person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

name

Meaning 7

A female given name from merry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

name

Meaning 8

A diminutive of the female given name Mercy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

name

Meaning 9

A diminutive of the male given name Meredith.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

An English wild cherry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

adjective satellite

Meaning 11

quick and energetic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a brisk walk in the park
  • a lively gait
  • a merry chase
  • traveling at a rattling rate
  • a snappy pace
  • a spanking breeze

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alert, brisk, lively, rattling, snappy, spanking, zippy

Antonyms: none provided

12

adjective satellite

Meaning 12

offering fun and gaiety

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a festive (or festal) occasion
  • gay and exciting night life
  • a merry evening

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gay, festal, festive

Antonyms: none provided

13

adjective satellite

Meaning 13

full of or showing high-spirited merriment- Wordsworth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • when hearts were young and gay
  • a poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company
  • 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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gay, jocund, jolly, jovial, mirthful

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English myrie, merie, mery, from Old English myrġe, myriġe (“pleasing, agreeable; pleasant, sweet, delightful; melodious”), from Proto-West Germanic *murgī (“short, slow, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *murguz (“short, slow”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵhus (“short”). Cognate with Scots mery, mirry (“merry”), Middle Dutch mergelijc (“pleasant, agreeable, joyful”), Norwegian dialectal myrjel (“small object, figurine”), Latin brevis (“short, small, narrow, shallow”), Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short”). Doublet of brief.

From French merise.

Across languages

Translations

103 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مَرِح (mariḥ) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Arabic: فَرِح (fariḥ) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Armenian: ուրախ (urax) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Belarusian: вясё́лы (vjasjóly) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Belarusian: ра́ды (rády) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Bulgarian: весел (vesel) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Chinese Mandarin: 愉快 (yúkuài) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Czech: veselý — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Dutch: vrolijk — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Esperanto: gaja — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Faroese: kátur — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Finnish: hauska — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • French: joyeux — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • West-Frisian: merie — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: ledo — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: gaio — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: gaioso — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: gallamundeiro — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: louzán — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: arrufado — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: arrufainado — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: algarufeiro — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: albendeiro — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: souril — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Galician: xetras — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • German: fröhlich — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • German: froh — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • German: gut gelaunt — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Ancient Greek: ἱλαρός (hilarós) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Hebrew: שמח (saméah) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Hungarian: vidám — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Ido: joyoza — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Ido: joyala — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Irish: sona — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Italian: allegro — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Japanese: 陽気な、賑々しい (yōki na) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Japanese: 明るい (akarui) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Korean: 즐거운 (jeulgeoun) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Latin: laetus — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Latin: gaudens — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Latin: hilaris — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Macedonian: весел (vesel) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Middle English: mery — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Church Slavic: веселъ (veselŭ) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Persian: شادکام (šâdkâm) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Persian: سرمست (sarmast) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Polabian: blåďütnĕ — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Polish: wesoły — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Portuguese: alegre — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Romanian: fericit — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Russian: весёлый (vesjólyj) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Russian: ра́достный (rádostnyj) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Serbo-Croatian: ве̏сео — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Serbo-Croatian: vȅseo — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Slovak: veselý — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Slovene: vesel — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Lower Sorbian: wjasoły — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Spanish: alegre — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Spanish: jacarandoso — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Swedish: munter — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Tagalog: maligaya — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Tagalog: masaya — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Thai: ครึกครื้น (krʉ́k-krʉ́ʉn) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Thai: ครื้นเครง — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Turkish: neşeli — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Turkish: mutlu — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Turkish: şen — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Turkish: kutlu — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Ottoman Turkish: سرخوش (sarhoş) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Ukrainian: весе́лий (vesélyj) — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Vietnamese: vui — jolly and full of high-spirits
  • Bulgarian: весел (vesel) — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Finnish: hauska — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Hebrew: שמח (saméah) — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Hebrew: עליז (alíz) — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Latin: festus — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Latin: festivus — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Middle English: mery — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Middle English: gameful — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Persian: شاد (šâd) — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Portuguese: festivo — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Russian: весёлый (vesjólyj) — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Spanish: festivo — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Tagalog: maligaya — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Tagalog: masaya — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Tagalog: masigla — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Thai: ครึกครื้น (krʉ́k-krʉ́ʉn) — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Thai: รื่นเริง — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Turkish: şen — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Turkish: kutlu — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Turkish: neşeli — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Turkish: mutlu — festive and full of fun and laughter
  • Bulgarian: оживен (oživen) — brisk
  • Finnish: reipas — brisk
  • Finnish: rivakka — brisk
  • Hebrew: ערני (eraní) — brisk
  • Hebrew: נמרץ (nimráts) — brisk
  • Middle English: mery — brisk
  • Persian: تند (tond) — brisk
  • Russian: живо́й (živój) — brisk
  • Russian: оживлённый (oživljónnyj) — brisk
  • Russian: энерги́чный (energíčnyj) — brisk
  • Tagalog: masigla — brisk
Real reading context

merry in complete knowledge articles