Overjoyous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Feeling or expressing great happiness and delight
2. Showing a very high level of joy or pleasure
3. Experiencing intense happiness and elation

Etymology: "Overjoyous" is a plain compound: the prefix "over-" attached to "joyous," meaning joyful. The prefix "over-" in English is an old native element, from Old English "ofer," that intensifies or exceeds a quality, so "overjoyous" describes joy carried past the ordinary degree. English has long built such intensifiers this way, as with "overjoyed" and "overeager." Joyous itself comes from Old French "joious," and the prefix has the same Germanic ancestry as in many other English words. The combination is transparent: a reader can work out the sense from its parts without any special history.

Synonyms: elated, ecstatic, exuberant, delighted, jubilant

Antonyms: depressed, sad, unhappy, miserable, discontent