Happiest

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈhæp.i.ɪst/

Definitions

1. Experiencing the utmost level of joy and contentment signifies a peak of satisfaction in emotional well-being
2. Reflecting the greatest amount of happiness indicates a condition of supreme delight and fulfillment
3. Experiencing the highest degree of positive emotion and joy

Etymology: "Happiest" is simply the superlative of "happy," so its history is really the history of its base. The surprise is that "happy" once meant something closer to "lucky." Its root is "hap," an old word for chance or fortune, and a happy person was originally one whom fortune had favoured. The Middle English form likely shifted toward the sense of "hap" and may have been influenced by Old Norse "heppinn," meaning fortunate or lucky, a word that survives in modern Icelandic and Faroese. The emotional sense of contentment grew out of that idea of good fortune. Being lucky naturally came to mean enjoying the good things life brought, and gradually the word shifted from external circumstance to inner feeling. "Happiest," then, is the form that marks the peak of that feeling, while its ancestry still points back to chance.

Synonyms: most joyful, most cheerful

Antonyms: saddest, most miserable