• (RP) IPA: /ˈmɛɹi/
• (GA) enPR: mĕrʹē, IPA: /ˈmɛɹi/, /ˈmeɪɹi/

merry (comparative merrier, superlative merriest)

1. Jolly and full of high spirits.

   We had a very merry Christmas.

   • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene i]:

     I am neuer merry when I heare ſweet muſique.

2. Festive and full of fun and laughter.
   • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Chapter V

     If I have the chance, I will make our worshipful Sheriff pay right well for that which he hath done to me. Maybe I may bring him some time into Sherwood Forest and have him to a right merry feast with us.

   Everyone was merry at the party.
3. Brisk

   The play moved along at a merry pace.

4. Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight.

   a merry jest

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: Printed [by John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938 ↗, book I, canto XII, stanza 1, page 171 ↗:

     There eke my feeble barke a while may ſtay, / Till mery wynd and weather call her thence away.

5. (euphemistic) drunk; tipsy

   Some of us got a little merry at the office Christmas party.

• (jolly) cheerful, content, ecstatic, exultant, gay, happy, jovial, joyful, pleased; see also Thesaurus:happy
• (festive) convivial, gay, jovial
• (brisk) energetic, lively, spirited; see also Thesaurus:active
• (causing laughter) delightful, gladful
• (drunk) lushy, muzzy, squiffy; see also Thesaurus:drunk

• (jolly) miserable, unhappy

• French: joyeux
• German: fröhlich, froh, gut gelaunt
• Italian: allegro
• Portuguese: alegre
• Russian: весёлый
• Spanish: alegre

• Portuguese: festivo
• Russian: весёлый
• Spanish: festivo

• Russian: живо́й

• mirth

merry (plural merries)

1. An English wild cherry.

1. Surname Originally a nickname for a merry person.
2. A female given name from the adjective, also a diminutive of Mercy.
   • 1844 Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, Chapter 2:

     'Is he handsome, Pa?' inquired the younger daughter.

     'Silly Merry!' said the eldest: Merry being fond for Mercy. 'What is the premium, Pa? tell us that.'

   • 1964 Brigid Brophy, The Waste Disposal Unit, Best Short Plays of the World Theatre 1958-1967, page 50:

     It was on account of she had such a happy temperament I persuaded Mr. van der Most to let me call her Merry. Lots of folks, when they first meet her, they think she's called Mary - Maria, as you would say it, Signor Lumaca - but no, her name is really Merry, M-E-double-R-Y, because, I always tell them, she is.

3. A male given name.