Meaning & use
bliss
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Meaning
noununcountable
A state of very deep happiness in which you feel calm and wholly content.
Grammar: No plural and no article needed: they lived in bliss.
Patterns
- in bliss
- sheer bliss
After weeks of noise, the quiet cabin felt like pure bliss.
She closed her eyes in bliss as the warm water covered her shoulders.
Ignorance is bliss, they say, but I would rather know the truth.
Common combinations
- pure bliss
- A day with no emails was pure bliss.
- wedded bliss
- They enjoyed a few years of wedded bliss before the arguments began.
- domestic bliss
- Their picture of domestic bliss included a dog and a garden.
- sigh with bliss
- He sighed with bliss as he tasted the first bite.
Synonyms and how they differ
- joy
- Joy can be a short burst of delight, while bliss is deeper and more lasting.
- ecstasy
- Ecstasy is more intense and excited; bliss is usually calmer.
- contentment
- Contentment is quiet satisfaction and weaker than bliss.
Opposites
Word family
- blissful adjective
- full of or causing great happiness
- blissfully adverb
- in a very happy way, or without being aware of problems
Commonly confused: bliss or blithe?
bliss vs blithe
Blithe means cheerful or carefree, often without proper concern; bliss is the noun for deep happiness.
Practice
After the stressful exam week, lying on the beach felt like complete ____.
Choose one answer.
Bliss means deep happiness. The other words do not fit: a blister is a skin bubble, bias is unfair preference, and bleak is gloomy.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bliss”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.