Bliss Meaning
/blɪs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounPerfect happiness.
nameAn English surname transferred from the nickname originating as a nickname.
Sentence Examples
The bliss was often interrupted by anxiety.
Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Lying on the beach with the sun warming her face, she felt pure ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The quiet beach was a place of pure ____ for the tired travelers.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English bliss, from Old English bliss, variant of earlier blīds, blīþs (“joy, gladness”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīþisi (“joy, goodness, kindness”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, / But to be young was very heaven!"
— a. 1851, William Wordsworth, “The French Revolution as It Appeared to Enthusiasts at Its Commencement”, in Henry [Hope] Reed, editor, The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Philadelphia, Pa.: Hayes & Zell, […], published 1860, →OCLC, page 188:
"What can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly, by a feeling of bliss—absolute bliss!—as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe?"
— 1918 August, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Bliss”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 116:
"When they insist on knowing my bliss
I tell them this
When they want to know what the reason is
I only smile when I lie, then I tell them why"
— 1980, Daryl Hall, Janna Allen, “Kiss on My List”, in Voices, performed by Hall & Oates:
"So who is this saying that money is bliss?
Your logic remiss
You and the devil about to kiss"
— 2002, CYNE, “Steady”, in Movements:
""Mother doesn't seem to especially like her little granddaughter as it is, even named 'Edna Louise'. D'you think she's going to like her better, named 'Bliss' like some sexpot pop star or some Indian-mystic asshole-charlatan?"
Betsey winced. "Bliss" was a beautiful name!"
— 2008, Joyce Carol Oates, My Sister, My Love, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 97:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Lying on the beach with the sun warming her face, she felt pure ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The quiet beach was a place of pure ____ for the tired travelers.