beatific means blessed, blissful, heavenly.
beatific is pronounced /bɪəˈtɪfɪk/.
Why “beatific” is a great word
Showing or imparting a great and serene happiness, one that suggests divine blessing or a saintly state of being. From Latin beātificus ("making happy or blessed"), from beātus ("blessed, happy") + -ficus ("making"), first recorded in English use in the 1630s. Unlike "blissful," which speaks of extreme joy but not necessarily sanctity, or "serene," which denotes calm without the requisite radiance, beatific implies a grace that is both conferred and visible. It is the unearthly smile on a statue of the Buddha, the look of a child in deep, untroubled sleep, the sun breaking through a bank of clouds to illuminate a single, still field—a quiet argument against the randomness of mortal suffering.
Etymology
From Latin beātificus (“making happy or blessed”), from beātus (“blessed”) + -ficus (“making”).
adj
- Blessed, blissful, heavenly.
- Having a benign appearance.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.