Merry \Mer"ry\, a. [Compar. Merrier; superl. Merriest.] [OE.
merie, mirie, murie, merry, pleasant, AS. merge, myrige,
pleasant; cf. murge, adv.; prob. akin to OHG. murg, short,
Goth. gama['u]rgjan to shorten; cf. L. murcus a coward, who
cuts off his thumb to escape military service; the
Anglo-Saxon and English meanings coming from the idea of
making the time seem short. Cf. Mirth.]
1. Laughingly gay; overflowing with good humor and good
spirits; jovial; inclined to laughter or play; sportive.
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They drank, and were merry with him. --Gen. xliii.
34.
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I am never merry when I hear sweet music. --Shak.
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2. Cheerful; joyous; not sad; happy.
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Is any merry? let him sing psalms. --Jas. v. 13.
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3. Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight; as, a merry
jest. "Merry wind and weather." --Spenser.
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Merry dancers. See under Dancer.
Merry men, followers; retainers. [Obs.]
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His merie men commanded he
To make him bothe game and glee. --Chaucer.
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To make merry, to be jovial; to indulge in hilarity; to
feast with mirth. --Judg. ix. 27.
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Syn: Cheerful; blithe; lively; sprightly; vivacious; gleeful;
joyous; mirthful; jocund; sportive; hilarious.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Merry \Mer"ry\ (m[e^]r"r[y^]), n. (Bot.)
A kind of wild red cherry.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
merry
adj 1: full of or showing high-spirited merriment; "when hearts
were young and gay"; "a poet could not but be gay, in
such a jocund company"- Wordsworth; "the jolly crowd
at the reunion"; "jolly old Saint Nick"; "a jovial old
gentleman"; "have a merry Christmas"; "peals of merry
laughter"; "a mirthful laugh" [syn: gay, jocund, jolly,
jovial, mirthful]
2: offering fun and gaiety; "a gala ball after the
inauguration"; "a festive (or festal) occasion"; "gay and
exciting night life"; "a merry evening" [syn: gala(a), gay,
festal, festive]
3: quick and energetic; "a brisk walk in the park"; "a lively
gait"; "a merry chase"; "traveling at a rattling rate"; "a
snappy pace"; "a spanking breeze" [syn: brisk, lively,
rattling, snappy, spanking, zippy]
[also: merriest, merrier]
WordNet (r) 2.0
84 Moby Thesaurus words for "merry":
addled, animated, beery, bemused, besotted, blind drunk, blithe,
blithesome, boon, buoyant, buxom, carefree, carouse, celebrate,
cheerful, cheery, convivial, crapulent, crapulous, delighted,
dizzy, drenched, drunk, drunken, exhilarating, exuberant, far-gone,
festal, festive, flustered, fou, frivolous, frolic, full, gala,
gay, giddy, glad, gladsome, gleeful, glorious, happy, hilarious,
in liquor, inebriate, inebriated, inebrious, intoxicated, jocular,
jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, jubilant, laughter-loving,
light-hearted, lighthearted, lively, mad, make merry, maudlin,
mellow, merrymaking, mirth-loving, mirthful, muddled, nappy,
on the loose, reeling, rejoicing, revel, riant, risible, shikker,
sodden, sotted, sprightly, tiddly, tipsy, unconstrained,
under the influence, vivacious, wild
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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