joy means expressing appreciation and happiness. It carries an Arena rating of 1501, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, joy ranks #898 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,373 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #6,865 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #8,473 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
joy is pronounced /d͡ʒɔɪ/.
Why “joy” is a great word
A feeling of intense, often sudden elation or delight arising from a specific good, also used as an exclamation. From Middle English joye, borrowed from Old French joie, from Late Latin gaudia (mistaken as a feminine singular), the neuter plural of Latin gaudium ('joy'), from gaudēre ('to be glad, rejoice'). First attested as a noun c. 1200, with the interjection deriving from the noun. Unlike 'happiness'—a broader, ambient state of contentment—or 'pleasure'—an immediate, sensory satisfaction—joy is a piercing clarity of feeling. It is the involuntary gasp when a long-awaited letter arrives, the uncontainable leap of a child splashing through a puddle, the first unguarded laugh after a shared loss—a momentary transcendence that acknowledges the world contains more than we dared to hope.
Etymology
The noun is from Middle English joye, borrowed from Old French joie, from Late Latin gaudia, neuter plural (mistaken as feminine singular) of Latin gaudium (“joy”), from gaudēre (“to be glad, rejoice”). Doublet of jo and gaudy (“Oxford college reunion”). Displaced native Old English ġefēa. The interjection is from the noun. The verb is from Middle English joyen, joȝen, joien, from Old French jöir, from the Old French noun (see above).
intj
- Expressing appreciation and happiness.e.g.“'Joy! joy!' he cried, throwing his arms towards Heaven, 'on a grave be the site of our Temple; and now our happiness is for Eternity!'” — 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Lily’s Quest”, in Twice-Told Tales, volume II, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 306:
name
- A female given name from English.e.g.“"I have no name: / I am but two days old." / What shall I call thee? / "I happy am, / Joy is my name." / Sweet joy befall thee!” — 1789, William Blake, Infant Joy:
- A surname.
noun
- A feeling of extreme happiness or cheerfulness, especially related to the acquisition or expectation of something good.e.g.“a child's joy on Christmas morning”
- Anything that causes such a feeling.e.g.“the joys and demands of parenthood”
- Luck or success; a positive outcome.e.g.“Grant had no joy with taking a nap, so he began to systematically feel if everything was working: fingers and toes, etc.” — 2012, Colin Owen, Colin's Shorts, volume 2, page 65:
- The sign or exhibition of joy; gaiety; merriment; festivity.e.g.“Such ioy made Vna, when her knight she found;” — 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 32:
verb
- To feel joy, to rejoice.
- To enjoy.e.g.“I haue my wish, in that I ioy thy sight,” — 1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (plea
- To give joy to; to congratulate.
- To gladden; to make joyful; to exhilarate.e.g.“Yet neither pleasure’s art can joy my spirits,
Nor yet the other’s distance comfort me.” — c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry Goss
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).