English Dictionary

JOY

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does joy mean? 

JOY (noun)
  The noun JOY has 2 senses:

1. the emotion of great happinessplay

2. something or someone that provides a source of happinessplay

  Familiarity information: JOY used as a noun is rare.


JOY (verb)
  The verb JOY has 2 senses:

1. feel happiness or joyplay

2. make glad or happyplay

  Familiarity information: JOY used as a verb is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


JOY (noun)


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:

delight; joy; pleasure

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)


JOY (verb)


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 
"It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease." (English proverb)

"Singing is for dinner, grief for lunch." (Albanian proverb)

"Had the monkey seen its ass, it wouldn’t have danced." (Arabic proverb)

"He who goes slowly, goes surely; and he who goes surely, goes far." (Corsican proverb)



ALSO IN ENGLISH DICTIONARY:


© 2000-2023 AudioEnglish.org | AudioEnglish® is a Registered Trademark | Terms of use and privacy policy
Contact