merry

A1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈmɛ.ɹi/ UK /ˈmɛ.ɹi/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like marry /ɛ/ vs /æ/

Freq #2470

Meanings

1

adj
Happy and full of cheerful energy.

We had a very merry Christmas together.
2

adj
Full of fun and laughter; festive.

Everyone was merry at the party.
3

adj
Slightly drunk; tipsy.

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

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · happy and full of cheerful... cheerful jolly jovial

2 adj · full of fun and laughter;... convivial gay

More active content drunk ecstatic exultant happy joyful lively muzzy pleased

Opposites

miserable unhappy

Word family

Forms merriermerriest

Derived forms merrily merrimentmerrinessmerriweathermerry-andrewmerry-go-aroundmerry-go-downmerry-go-roundmerry-go-sorrymerry-go-whirlmerry-makermerry-making

Related forms mirth

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

merry christmas
a greeting wishing someone a happy Christmas

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (4)

See all

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.

myrie Middle English myrġe Old English *murgī Proto-West Germanic *murguz Proto-Germanic *mréǵʰus Proto-Indo-European

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Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# merry

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈmɛ.ɹi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmɛ.ɹi/
**Frequency rank:** 2470

## Meanings
1. Happy and full of cheerful energy.
2. Full of fun and laughter; festive.
3. Slightly drunk; tipsy.

## Examples
- We had a very merry Christmas together.
- Everyone was merry at the party.
- Some of us got a little merry at the office party.

## Synonyms
- active
- content
- drunk
- ecstatic
- exultant
- gay
- happy
- jovial
- joyful
- lively
- muzzy
- pleased

## Antonyms
- miserable
- unhappy

## Derived Forms
- merrily
- merriment
- merriness
- merriweather
- merry-andrew
- merry-go-around
- merry-go-down
- merry-go-round
- merry-go-sorry
- merry-go-whirl
- merry-maker
- merry-making

## Related Forms
- mirth

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: myrie
- Root: myrġe
- Root: *murgī
- Root: *murguz
- Root: *mréǵʰus

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Merry comes 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. In present-day English its meanings include happy and full of cheerful energy, full of fun and laughter; festive, and slightly drunk; tipsy. The historical chain runs through myrie (Middle English), myrġe (Old English), *murgī (Proto-West Germanic), *murguz (Proto-Germanic), and *mréǵʰus (Proto-Indo-European).

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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