Q.

In his 1653 Complete Herbal, botanist Nicholas Culpeper wrote: ‘the decoction of the thistle in wine being drank, expels superfluous melancholy out of the body, and makes a man as merry as a cricket.’

‘As merry as a cricket’. That’s not something one hears much in 2022. What are some lesser used or unusual words related to being jolly, happy, or ‘wreathed in smiles’?

.

A.

Blithesome
Being merry and full of cheer

Boffola
A joke or gag that inspires deep belly laughter, or the laughter itself

Cachinnation
To guffaw or laugh loudly

Chirky
Feeling energetic and cheerful

Delectation
Delight. Gleeful enjoyment

Deliciate
To cause yourself delight

Eadness
Happiness stemming from significant wealth and fancy things

Euneirophrenia
That blissfully happy feeling when you just start to wake up from a wonderful dream

Eupeptic
Having good humour and/or digestion!

Felicitate
To make happy

Foolhappy
A bringing together of ‘fool’ and ‘happy’. To be lucky without even realizing the possible pitfalls you have avoided

Gladsome
Being cheerful, or causing good cheer in others

Imparadised
Enraptured

In Clover
Easy, peasy. Living a pleasant life of comfort

Jouissance
Enjoyment. Heady pleasure

Kench
To laugh out loud, with great abandon

Pleasance
A state of bliss

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