What's the difference between happiness and merriment?

Happiness


Definition:

  • (n.) Good luck; good fortune; prosperity.
  • (n.) An agreeable feeling or condition of the soul arising from good fortune or propitious happening of any kind; the possession of those circumstances or that state of being which is attended enjoyment; the state of being happy; contentment; joyful satisfaction; felicity; blessedness.
  • (n.) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace; -- used especially of language.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This is not an argument for the status quo: teaching must be given greater priority within HE, but the flipside has to be an understanding on the part of students, ministers, officials, the public and the media that academics (just like politicians) cannot make everyone happy all of the time.
  • (2) Infants were habituated to models posing either prototypically positive displays (e.g., happy expressions) or positive expression blends (e.g., mock surprise).
  • (3) His greatest legacy, besides his three children, is the joy and happiness he offered to others, particularly to those fighting personal battles.
  • (4) United and West Ham are on similar runs and can feel pretty happy about themselves but are not as confident away from home as they are at home and that will have to change if they are to make ground on the top teams.
  • (5) Not even housebuilders are entirely happy, although recent government policies such as Help to Buy and the encouragement of easy credit have helped their share prices rise.
  • (6) I’m so happy to be joining Arsenal, a club which has a great manager, a fantastic squad of players, huge support around the world and a great stadium in London,” said Sánchez.
  • (7) As for gay men, there is absolutely nothing that suggests they are any less war-happy than heterosexuals.
  • (8) While the Spielberg of popular myth is Mr Nice Guy, Lean was known as an obsessive, cantankerous tyrant who didn't much like actors and was only truly happy locked away in the editing suite.
  • (9) That latter issue is quite controversial in Germany, where the Bundesbank is not happy about surrendering control to the ECB .
  • (10) The first problem facing Calderdale is sheep-rustling Happy Valley – filmed around Hebden Bridge, with its beautiful stone houses straight off the pages of the Guardian’s Lets Move To – may be filled with rolling hills and verdant pastures, but the reality of rural issues are harsh.
  • (11) Outwardly, his life was successful, happy, on course.
  • (12) Pointing out that “the army has its own fortune teller”, he sounds less than happy at the state of affairs: “The country is run by superstition.” Weerasethakul is in a relatively fortunate position, in that his arcane films are not exactly populist and don’t depend on the mainstream Thai film industry for funding, but he has become cast as a significant voice of dissent in a difficult time .
  • (13) John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, said the landowners his group represents "are obviously not happy" that the beetles are being removed.
  • (14) I was just happy he got his licence back so I could clean him out."
  • (15) He is an academy product and truthfully we are, and me above all, happy to have him with us.
  • (16) Thirty-two nursing students were shown silent films in which 10 normal and 10 schizophrenic women described a happy, sad, and an angry personal experience.
  • (17) Indeed, the distribution of couples according to a multifactorial risk index does in fact establish a connection between the couple's happiness and the level of risk during sexual relations within and outside the couple.
  • (18) But some wise old heads sniff into their handkerchiefs because they have sat through too many costly "happy ever after" ceremonies that ended in acrimony.
  • (19) I can calmly say that his future will still be at Juventus, where he feels very happy,” he parped.
  • (20) In a series of analyses guided by intuitive hypotheses, the Smith and Ellsworth theoretical approach, and a relatively unconstrained, open-ended exploration of the data, the situations were found to vary with respect to the emotions of pride, jealousy or envy, pride in the other, boredom, and happiness.

Merriment


Definition:

  • (n.) Gayety, with laughter; mirth; frolic.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) That merriment is not just tankards and quaintness and mimsy Morris dancing, but a witty, angry and tender fire at the centre of Englishness.
  • (2) Christmas is a time for joy, celebration and bringing together family and friends to share this merriment.
  • (3) They are the only couple from the state dinner to get their picture on the front page of the Washington Post, and they were the source of a mix of merriment at their daring and alarmist speculation on the morning television shows about what would have happened if they had been Islamist extremists.
  • (4) For a long time, for me, one of the best things about the new year and Christmas was that it was a time for socially acceptable drunkenness, an occasion when even falling-over-in-the-street-drunkenness would be tolerated in the name of festive merriment.
  • (5) Back in 1776, the sage of Kirkcaldy noted: "People of the same trade seldom meet together even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."
  • (6) The central characters of the show entitled "Health and Merriment" were: the housewife Larimunda, the druggist Salim, and the clowns Banziero, Xulex, and Primentinha.
  • (7) If you are visiting Denmark around 23-24 June, you are likely to be invited to gather round a huge beach bonfire with much drinking, eating, singing and merriment.
  • (8) A young couple, screeching with merriment, went past on their way to a bar or nightclub.
  • (9) I have no idea what "real sex" is and even less after reading the Mumsnet thread of the bedside 'penis beaker' (a dunking cup for hygiene purposes that has caused much merriment online ).
  • (10) Not just to remember how to pronounce "caxirola", but for general merriment.
  • (11) Dennis was beloved by his friends for his originality as a poet, his acuity as a critic, his probity and courage and merriment as a man.
  • (12) The effect is of a party recently ended, of a room still ringing with merriment, laughter and dancing.
  • (13) This tour of royal duty presumably produced the desired effect – positive media reporting – no doubt resulting in much merriment among the corridors of the royal household.
  • (14) Along with the origins on the South Bank, the merriment at the fact that funds are so tight, Walker often has to take the bus … It all suggests difference of the wrong kind: that the life experiences of Mayer, Toksvig and Walker may be alienatingly divergent from the people they want to reach.
  • (15) In the end, our futile midwinter merriment comes from the heart.
  • (16) It took Bryan Cranston four nominations to finally nab best actor, drama, for his role as the teacher-turned-druglord Walter White; on collecting his award, Cranston drily suggested that the exposure would bring the show's "mirth and merriment" to the world.
  • (17) After 2000, they are almost always funny, extended merriment concerning trousers with elasticated waistbands and grumpiness about modern music.
  • (18) Even opposition MPs realised today that the launch of IDS's Cunning Plan was not a day for merriment.
  • (19) But it’s not only musical merriment that revs up the crowds at its flagship London night at Koko: Rowley swoops in on new cabaret talent, too.