Meaning & use
domestic bliss
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Meanings
phraseuncountable
A state of happy, peaceful life at home, especially in a marriage or family.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable idea, so it takes no article: they settled into domestic bliss, not 'a domestic bliss'.
Patterns
- live in domestic bliss
- a life of domestic bliss
- settle into domestic bliss
After years of saving, they finally bought a cottage and settled into domestic bliss.
Their social media feed is a nonstop parade of domestic bliss: home-baked bread and matching aprons.
He jokes that domestic bliss means agreeing with his wife about everything.
phraseuncountablehumorousdisapproving
An idealized picture of perfect home life, often used to show that such a picture is unrealistic.
Grammar: Often appears with words like 'supposed' or 'so-called' to signal irony.
Patterns
- supposed domestic bliss
- so-called domestic bliss
- the myth of domestic bliss
The film quietly mocks the supposed domestic bliss of suburban couples.
By the third week of the school holidays, their domestic bliss had worn rather thin.
She wrote a funny column about the myth of domestic bliss.
phrasesingularliterary
A period or situation in which home life feels calm and pleasant.
Grammar: Can be used with 'a' when describing one particular period: they enjoyed a brief domestic bliss.
Patterns
- enjoy a period of domestic bliss
- a moment of domestic bliss
For a few months they enjoyed a quiet domestic bliss before the baby arrived.
Sunday mornings, with coffee and newspapers, were their small slice of domestic bliss.
Common combinations
- settle into domestic bliss
- Once the renovations were finished, they settled into domestic bliss.
- a picture of domestic bliss
- The photograph shows a picture of domestic bliss that few families actually live.
- the myth of domestic bliss
- Her novel explores the myth of domestic bliss in small towns.
- domestic bliss wears thin
- When the heating broke, their domestic bliss wore thin fast.
- a life of domestic bliss
- He gave up city life for a quiet life of domestic bliss in the countryside.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wedded bliss
- Focuses specifically on happiness in marriage, while domestic bliss can also describe family life without a wedding.
- conjugal happiness
- A formal, rather old-fashioned term about marriage; domestic bliss is warmer and more everyday.
- home comforts
- Refers to physical comfort at home, such as good food and a soft bed, not to emotional happiness.
Opposites
Word family
- domestic adjective
- Relating to the home, family, or one's own country.
- domesticity noun
- The state or activities of home and family life.
- blissful adjective
- Extremely happy; the adjective formed from 'bliss'.
- blissfully adverb
- In a very happy or carefree way, as in 'blissfully unaware'.
Commonly confused: domestic bliss or bliss? domestic bliss or domesticated?
domestic bliss vs bliss
Bliss is any complete happiness; domestic bliss is that happiness specifically in home and family life.
domestic bliss vs domesticated
Domesticated describes animals made used to living with humans, or people made used to home life; it is not the same as the fixed phrase domestic bliss.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'domestic bliss' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Domestic bliss' is an uncountable fixed phrase, so it takes no article and has no plural. Option 1 wrongly adds 'a', option 2 uses the adjective 'blissful' where a noun is needed, and option 3 invents a plural form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “domestic bliss”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.