merry Hear it!

merry definition

merry (mer′ē)

adjective merrier -·rier, merriest -·ri·est

  1. full of fun and laughter; lively and cheerful
  2. conducive to fun and laughter; festive the merry month of May
  3. Archaic pleasant or amusing

Etymology: ME mery < OE myrge, pleasing, agreeable, akin to OHG murgi, short < IE base *mreĝhu-, *mrĝhu-, short > Gr brachys, L brevis, short: basic sense “lasting a short time, seeming brief”

Related Forms:

merry Idioms

make merry

to be festive and full of gaiety; have fun

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

merry Synonyms

merry

modif.

  1. Happy

    cheerful, joyous, mirthful; see happy 1.

  2. Festive

    enjoyable, amusing, lively; see entertaining, pleasant 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

merry Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • very: C France, South " The 11th November is St Martin's day, a very merry day in France.

Preposition: for

  • tomorrow: This combination of nihilism and despair soon leads to hedonism - " eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • make: I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry.

Modifies a noun

  • christmas: I wish you all the best & a merry christmas.

Used with adjective complement

  • make: He made merry in the day of Jacob's captivity.
merry usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

merry quotes

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.

-Bible (Old Testament)

Then I commended mirth, because a manhath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with himof hislabour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

-Bible (Old Testament)

A feast ismade for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.

-Bible (Old Testament)

merry quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"merry." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/merry>

APA Style

merry. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/merry

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