glad

glad, happy, cheerful, lighthearted, joyful, joyous are comparable when meaning characterized by or expressing the mood, temper, or state of mind of a person who is pleased or delighted with something or with things in general.

Glad may be used in opposition to sorry to convey polite conventional expressions of pleasure or gratification

{

I am glad to hear of your recovery

}

{

I shall be glad to have the opportunity to meet you

}

It may also be used in opposition to sad, and then connotes actual delight and a lift of spirits and sometimes elation

{

wine that maketh glad the heart of man— Ps 104:15

}

{

glad did I live and gladly die— Stevenson

}

{

a child's kiss set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad— E. B. Browning

}

{

his entire saintly life was glad with an invincible gaiety of spirit— H. O. Taylor

}

Happy may also be used in polite conventional phrases in which its content can hardly be distinguished from that of glad. In more meaningful use, however, it distinctively implies a sense of contentment and well-being or a realization either of one's good fortune or of the fulfillment of one's desires

{

he will never be happy until he finds work which utilizes all his talents

}

{

with the tension of an unachieved task no longer felt ... I can say with truth that the last phase of my life has been the happiest— Ellis

}

{

is my girl happy, that I thought hard to leave, and has she tired of weeping as she lies down at eve?— Housman

}

Cheerful suggests a strong and, often, a spontaneous flow of good spirits either as a result of feeling glad or happy or as a result of an equable disposition or of a naturally sanguine temperament

{

suicidal thoughts . . . could not enter the cheerful, sanguine, courageous scheme of life, which was in part natural to her and in part slowly built up— Ellis

}

{

time went by as we drank and talked in a world that was rosy, cheerful, and full of fellowship and peace on earth— Hammett

}

Lighthearted stresses freedom from care, worry, and discontent. Since it also implies high spirits, vivacity, or gaiety, it commonly suggests in addition youth or an easygoing and somewhat volatile temperament

{

he whistles as he goes, lighthearted wretch, cold and yet cheerful— Cowper

}

{

why, man, I was lighthearted in my prime, I am lighthearted now; what would you have?— Browning

}

Joyful and joyous imply keen gladness or happiness with resulting elation; they are often used as though they were equivalent terms. However, joyful usually suggests a mood or an emotional reaction to an event or situation, and it implies rejoicing

{

in the day of prosperity be joyful—Eccles 7:14

}

{

and joyful nations join in leagues of peace— Pope

}

{

a joyful countenance

}

{

a bright and happy Christian, a romping optimist who laughed away sin and doubt, a joyful puritan— Sinclair Lewis

}

Joyous, on the other hand, applies more to something which by its nature or character is filled with joy or is a cause of joy

{

all that ever was joyous, and clear, and fresh, thy music doth surpass— Shelley

}

{

the happy and joyous temper, which characterizes a fresh and confident faith— Inge

}

{

that joyous serenity we think belongs to a better world than this—.Sir Winston Churchill

}

Analogous words: pleased, delighted, gratified, tickled, rejoiced (see PLEASE): blithe, jocund, *merry, jolly, jovial: gleeful, mirthful, hilarious (see corresponding nouns at MIRTH)

Antonyms: sad

Contrasted words: depressed, dejected, melancholy (see corresponding nouns at SADNESS)