I. joy 1 W3 /dʒɔɪ/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: joie , from Latin gaudia ]
1 . [uncountable] great happiness and pleasure:
the look of joy on her face
with/for joy
I leaped into the air with joy.
She wept for joy.
I didn’t exactly jump for joy (=I was not very pleased) when I heard the news.
REGISTER
Joy is used especially in literature. In everyday English, rather than say they did something with joy , people usually say that they were (really) pleased/happy/glad to do it:
▪
Thank you for your letter. I was really pleased to get it.
2 . [countable] something or someone that gives you happiness and pleasure
joy of
one of the joys of travelling alone
The garden was his pride and joy.
be a joy to watch/drive/use etc
The children’s singing was a joy to listen to.
3 . no joy British English spoken if you have no joy, you do not succeed in getting something:
I phoned the pub, but no joy. The landlord didn’t know where she was.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ be filled with joy/be full of joy
I was full of joy at the thought of seeing her again.
▪ tears of joy
She began to cry again, but they were tears of joy.
▪ a feeling of joy
A feeling of total joy swept over him.
▪ a sense of joy
I’ll never forget the sense of joy that day.
▪ a look of joy
There was a look of joy on their faces.
▪ shouts/cries of joy
They greeted each other with cries of joy.
■ adjectives
▪ great joy
To her great joy, she became the mother of two beautiful baby girls.
▪ pure/sheer/complete joy (=a lot of joy, not mixed with other feelings)
It was a moment of pure joy.
▪ overwhelming joy formal (=very great joy)
She experienced a feeling of overwhelming joy.
▪ true/real joy
How can I find true joy in life?
■ verbs
▪ bring joy to somebody (=make someone feel joy)
Her children have brought her great joy.
▪ give (somebody) joy
His music has given people a lot of joy over the years.
▪ feel/experience joy
He had never felt the joy of watching the seasons come and go.
▪ be jumping for joy (=be very pleased about something)
She tried to stay calm, but she was secretly jumping for joy.
▪ express your joy (=show it)
They expressed their joy by jumping up and down and hugging each other.
II. joy 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive] literary
to be happy because of something