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Glad vs Blissful - What's the difference?

glad | blissful | Synonyms |

In obsolete terms the difference between glad and blissful

is that glad is having a bright or cheerful appearance; expressing or exciting joy; producing gladness while blissful is blessed; glorified.

As adjectives the difference between glad and blissful

is that glad is pleased, happy, gratified while blissful is extremely happy; full of joy; experiencing, indicating, causing, or characterized by bliss.

As a verb glad

is to make glad; to cheer; to gladden; to exhilarate.

glad

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Pleased, happy, gratified.
  • :
  • *(Bible), (w) x.1:
  • *:A wise son maketh a glad father.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Glad am I that your highness is so armed.
  • *
  • *:"I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal. I never did that. I always made up my mind I'd be a big man some day, and—I'm glad I didn't steal."
  • (lb) Having a bright or cheerful appearance; expressing or exciting joy; producing gladness.
  • *Sir (Philip Sidney) (1554-1586)
  • *:Her conversation / More glad to me than to a miser money is.
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:Glad' evening and ' glad morn crowned the fourth day.
  • Usage notes

    The comparative "gladder" and superlative "gladdest" are not incorrect but may be unfamiliar enough to be taken as such. In both American and British English, the forms "more" and "most glad" are equally common in print and more common in daily speech.

    Antonyms

    * sorrowful * sad * downcast * peevish * cranky * heavy * depressed

    Derived terms

    * engladden * gladden * gladly

    Verb

    (gladd)
  • To make glad; to cheer; to gladden; to exhilarate.
  • * Dryden
  • that which gladded all the warrior train
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Each drinks the juice that glads the heart of man.
  • * 1922 , , Epithalamium , line 3
  • God that glads the lover's heart

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    blissful

    English

    Alternative forms

    * blissfull (archaic)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • 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,
  • In pleasing dreams the blissful age renew,
    And call Britannia's glories back to view;
  • * 1868 , , Little Women , ch. 27,
  • She ... led a blissful life, unconscious of want, care, or bad weather, while she sat safe and happy in an imaginary world.
  • * 1983 , James Hijiya, "American Gravestones and Attitudes toward Death: A Brief History," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , vol. 127, no. 5., page 349,
  • 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.
  • (obsolete) Blessed; glorified.
  • * c1387 , , "The Prioress' Tale," in The Canterbury Tales ,
  • 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 also

    References

    * * * * Oxford English Dictionary , second edition (1989) * Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)