Merry Meaning
/ˈmɛ.ɹi/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjJolly and full of high spirits; happy.
adjFestive and full of fun and laughter.
Sentence Examples
Let's sing some merry songs.
Merry is scared of dogs.
Little did I dream of hearing such a merry song.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wedding celebration was so joyful that it created a ____ atmosphere for all guests.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Everyone was in a ____ mood at the holiday party, singing songs and sharing stories with their friends and family.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I am neuer merry when I heare ſweet muſique."
— c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
"I felt comforted by the song of the redbreast, and I thought I felt less lonely and deserted as long as I heard the merry notes of the thrush."
— 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 281:
"If I have the chance, I will make our worshipful Sheriff pay right well for that which he hath done to me. Maybe I may bring him some time into Sherwood Forest and have him to a right merry feast with us."
— 1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC:
"There eke my feeble barke a while may ſtay, / Till mery wynd and weather call her thence away."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 171:
"'Is he handsome, Pa?' inquired the younger daughter.
'Silly Merry!' said the eldest: Merry being fond for Mercy. 'What is the premium, Pa? tell us that.'"
— 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 2, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wedding celebration was so joyful that it created a ____ atmosphere for all guests.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Everyone was in a ____ mood at the holiday party, singing songs and sharing stories with their friends and family.