| English Dictionary |
JOY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does joy mean?
• JOY (noun)
The noun JOY has 2 senses:
1. the emotion of great happiness
2. something or someone that provides a source of happiness
Familiarity information: JOY used as a noun is rare.
• JOY (verb)
The verb JOY has 2 senses:
1. feel happiness or joy
2. make glad or happy
Familiarity information: JOY used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
The emotion of great happiness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Synonyms:
joy; joyfulness; joyousness
Hypernyms ("joy" is a kind of...):
emotion (any strong feeling)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "joy"):
rhapsody (an enthusiastic expression of emotion)
elation; high spirits; lightness (a feeling of joy and pride)
exultation; jubilance; jubilancy; jubilation (a feeling of extreme joy)
excitement; exhilaration (the feeling of lively and cheerful joy)
exuberance (joyful enthusiasm)
Antonym:
sorrow (an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement)
Derivation:
joy (make glad or happy)
joy (feel happiness or joy)
joyous (full of or characterized by joy)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Something or someone that provides a source of happiness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
Context example:
the new car is a delight
Hypernyms ("joy" is a kind of...):
positive stimulus (a stimulus with desirable consequences)
Derivation:
joy (make glad or happy)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Feel happiness or joy
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Synonyms:
joy; rejoice
Hypernyms (to "joy" is one way to...):
experience; feel (undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "joy"):
cheer; cheer up; chirk up (become cheerful)
gladden (become glad or happy)
be on cloud nine; exult; jump for joy; walk on air (feel extreme happiness or elation)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
joy (the emotion of great happiness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make glad or happy
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Synonyms:
gladden; joy
Cause:
gladden (become glad or happy)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "joy"):
overjoy (cause to feel extremely joyful or happy)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
The good news will joy her
Derivation:
joy (something or someone that provides a source of happiness)
joy (the emotion of great happiness)
Context examples
It gave me a kind of savage joy when I thought how Sarah would feel when she had such signs as these of what her meddling had brought about.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a face which spoke her joy.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Poetry, however, was his solace, and he read much of it, finding his greatest joy in the simpler poets, who were more understandable.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The eyes of both of us, I think, were moist with the joy of success.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It is an added joy to Mina and to me that our boy's birthday is the same day as that on which Quincey Morris died.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
A potent aspect will connect financial Jupiter with surprise-a-minute Uranus, one that brings happiness, optimism, and joy.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
It is not easy to express the joy I was in, upon the unexpected hope of once more seeing my beloved country, and the dear pledges I left in it.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Was the joy all for the boys?
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Her joy at finding him seemed even greater than his joy at being found.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
For an instant my heart leaped for joy, as I thought that one of my comrades had made his way safely down.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
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