Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Being in good spirits; merry. See Synonyms at glad1.
- adj. Promoting a feeling of cheer; pleasant: a cozy, cheerful room.
- adj. Reflecting willingness or good humor: contributed her cheerful labor to the project.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of good cheer; having good spirits; gay; lively: said of persons.
- Cordially willing; genial in action; hearty; ungrudging.
- Characterized by or expressive of good spirits; associated with agreeable feelings; lively; animated: as, cheerful songs.
- Promoting or causing cheerfulness; gladdening; animating; genial: as, the cheerful sun; a cheerful fire.
- Synonyms Lightsome, gleeful, blithe, airy, sprightly, jocund, jolly, buoyant. See cheery.
Wiktionary
- adj. Noticeably happy and optimistic.
- adj. Bright and pleasant
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Having or showing good spirits or joy; cheering; cheery; contented; happy; joyful; lively; animated; willing.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. pleasantly (even unrealistically) optimistic
- adj. being full of or promoting cheer; having or showing good spirits
Examples
“Someone was about to laugh, but the captain snapped: This is what I call a cheerful state of affairs.”
Simon & Schuster: The Metamorphosis, in The Penal Colony,and Other Stories
““He is not absolutely drunk,” said Hart, “but is what he terms cheerful; that is, ripe for a row, as we say; he will, therefore, attack his wife, unless hindered; so get them off as fast as you can.””
“Houses in cheerful colors line a street in the Mexican river port town of Tlacotalpan, Veracruz.”
“But I must yield in cheerful obedience to the "powers that be"; and to warn you against the anxieties which my delay might cause in your mind, whe”
Letter from Young John Allen to Mollie Houston,March 5, 1857
“Hope you would have enjoyed your long break in cheerful way.”
“As soon as the rest of the company was assembled, he set meat and drink before them and, when they had well eaten and drunken and were merry and in cheerful case, he took up his discourse and recounted to them in these words the narrative of”
“First Impression: Reagan is described as a cheerful chatterbox or an articulate woman.”
“And that very evening he joined with me in my retired duties; and, at all proper opportunities, favours me with his company in the same manner; listening attentively to all my lessons, as he calls my cheerful discourses on serious subjects.”
“The brothers cherish memories of the home where Bess resides in cheerful domesticityreading this very letter.”
Colonial Correspondence: The Letters of George Bogle from Bengal, Bhutan and Tibet, 1770-81
“Low bunks that ran the the full length, upholstered in cheerful green, served as seats.”
reesetee This is a rather screamy page, isn't it? ;-)
*keeping earplugs at the ready* Dec 1, 2007
uselessness Ah, yes yes, perfectly understandable, as it were. Dec 1, 2007
chained_bear ... I'm not feeling very cheerful anymore ...
bilby, yes, we've once again hijacked a perfectly respectable word page by veering off into left field.
sionnach, yes, I did notice your grammatically correct usage of "it were" in the subjunctive mood. I just wasn't sure about West Virginia, so I didn't say anything.
VanishedOne, I wasn't talking about the original quotation (see note to bilby, above, re: veering), but trying to get uselessness's attention since he yelled at me for saying I like "it were." Thanks for clarifying which mood though.
and finally... reesetee... CAN YOU HEAR ME? HUH?! HEY! Oh, you took your earplugs out already. Dec 1, 2007
jennarenn I sure can't see you. ;) Dec 1, 2007
sionnach What am I, invisible, in this conversation? Yes, I mean YOU, c_b! Dec 1, 2007
bilby Actually I was interested in the cheerful angle more than the grammar. The full passage went like this:
"I remember that time when I studied at university. It were cheerful times. Certainly study was difficult, but after study always cheerful. At us was cheerful company and we each day off went to various clubs and cafe."
I was thinking that it was an interesting overuse of cheerful. To the English native speaker's ear it sounds like overkill but in some languages and indeed some kinds of rhetoric repetition is seen as reinforcing a word rather than weakening it. And in this case it's a word which is probably not an everyday item for native English speakers. Dec 1, 2007
vanishedone 'Would that it were' is a correct use of the subjunctive, but 'It were cheerful times' appears to be a straightforward statement about the past, hence indicative. Dec 1, 2007
chained_bear You know, though, uselessness... that "it were" could actually be correct in certain grammatical situations. I think it's ... subjunctive mood (?). Is that what it's called? Dec 1, 2007
reesetee *removing earplugs* Nov 30, 2007
uselessness I THOUGHT I DID!!
ON SECOND READ, IT TURNS OUT I DID'NT!!
OOPS, I DID (NOT) IT AGAIN.
MY OUTRAGED, EXTREMELY UPPERCASE DEFENSE OF GRAMMAR HAS COLLAPSED UNDER ITS OWN WEIGHT.
and i have no recourse but to shut up now Nov 30, 2007
reesetee *inserting earplugs* Nov 30, 2007
chained_bear USELESSNESS, THANK YOU FOR PLACING THE APOSTROPHES CORRECTLY IN "'TISN'T"!! I LIKE A MAN WHO CAN PLACE APOSTROPHES CORRECTLY!!
Edit: Oh crap... You didn't! (I'm sorry...I was just making a joke!) Nov 30, 2007
reesetee Somebody throw uselessness a damp cloth to wipe his brow. ;-) Nov 30, 2007
sionnach They told me that West Virginia is a gourmet's paradise. Would that it were, gentle readers, would that it were. Nov 30, 2007
bilby The disturbing yet somehow fascinating sound of uselessness blowing a gasket will probably NOT be recorded in the annals of history as cheerful. Nov 30, 2007
uselessness I AM FULLY AWARE OF THIS, BUT STILL IRREPRESSIBLE.
'TIS'NT RIGHT, LAD, NOT ONE MITE!! Nov 30, 2007
bilby Often hear this construction in English dialects. eg. "I remember Stanley Matthews, he were grand." Nov 30, 2007
uselessness DO YE HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YE'RE SAYING?!?!
WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE GRAMMAR?!?! Nov 30, 2007
chained_bear People should say "it were" more often. I like it. Nov 29, 2007
bilby "I remember that time when I studied at university. It were cheerful times." Nov 29, 2007