Blissful vs Elysian - What's the difference?
blissful | elysian |
Extremely happy; full of joy; experiencing, indicating, causing, or characterized by bliss.
* 1738 , , "London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal", lines 25-26,
* 1868 , , Little Women , ch. 27,
* 1983 , James Hijiya, "American Gravestones and Attitudes toward Death: A Brief History," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , vol. 127, no. 5., page 349,
(obsolete) Blessed; glorified.
* c1387 , , "The Prioress' Tale," in The Canterbury Tales ,
Of or pertaining to Elysian or Elysium, the location.
(idiomatic) Happy, blissful, heavenly.
* 1913. Charles George Herbermann, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work... , Encyclopedia Press, page 573:
blissful
English
Alternative forms
* blissfull (archaic)Adjective
(en adjective)- In pleasing dreams the blissful age renew,
- And call Britannia's glories back to view;
- She ... led a blissful life, unconscious of want, care, or bad weather, while she sat safe and happy in an imaginary world.
- New England carvers between the 1720s and the 1750s transformed, step by step, the winged skull into the winged face, adding flesh to bare bone and turning the toothy grin of death into the blissful smile of a saved soul.
- Thus had this widow her little son y-taught
- Our blissful Lady, Christe's mother dear,
- To worship aye
Usage notes
"Blissful" occasionally has the extra connotation that a person is extremely happy because he or she fails to recognize or accept certain adversities or other harsh realities.Synonyms
* ecstatic * elated * euphoric * joyful * orgasmic * overjoyed * rapturous * on cloud nine * See alsoReferences
* * * * Oxford English Dictionary , second edition (1989) * Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)elysian
English
Adjective
(-)- Unlike Raphael's "Galatea" and his "Three Graces", examples of Elysian happiness in a race in the state of innocence, Guilano's decorations resemble saturnalia of lubricity itself.