Meaning & use
joy
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Meanings
noununcountable
A strong feeling of happiness, often deep and lasting.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: she cried with joy.
Patterns
- joy at something
- with joy
- jump for joy
The children shouted with joy when the snow arrived.
Her face lit up with joy at the news.
nouncountable
A person or thing that brings great pleasure or happiness.
Grammar: Countable and often in the plural: the joys of travel.
Patterns
- the joy of something
- a joy to do something
The puppy has been a joy to the whole family.
He writes about the simple joys of gardening.
noununcountableinformalBritish
Success or satisfaction in getting what you want.
Grammar: Mostly in questions and negatives: no joy.
Patterns
- any joy
- no joy
I called the shop, but got no joy.
Any joy with the broken printer?
Word forms
| plural | joys |
|---|
Common combinations
- jump for joy
- She jumped for joy when she got the job.
- sheer joy
- Skating gave him sheer joy.
- tears of joy
- They cried tears of joy at the wedding.
- bring joy
- Music brings joy to many people.
- a joy to behold
- The garden in spring is a joy to behold.
Synonyms and how they differ
- delight
- Often a quicker, lighter pleasure than joy.
- happiness
- More general and everyday; joy is usually more intense.
- elation
- Suggests excited triumph after something good happens.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
The twins jumped for ___ when they heard the trip was on.
Choose one answer.
Jump for joy is a fixed phrase. Delighted and happy are adjectives, and pleasure does not form the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “joy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.