felicity

Syllables: fe·li·ci·tyUK/fɪˈlɪsɪti//fəˈlɪsəti/

felicity noun: the condition of being happy.

Noun

felicity (countable and uncountable, plural felicities)

(uncountable) The condition of being happy.
- Although he shows traces of the Romantic belief in the felicity of the savage, these are not numerous or important and there is no suggestion in his work that mankind could or should revert to a primitive life-style.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in...
1. (uncountable) Intense happiness.
  - Whan this ſayd monument diſcouered was / Suche a ſuauite and fragrant odoure / Aſcended from the corps by ſingular grace / Paſſyng all worldly ſwetnes and ſauour / That all there present that day and hour / Suppoſed they had ben / in the felicite / Of erthely paradiſe / without ambiguite.1513, Henry Bradshaw, edited by Edward Hawkins, The Holy Lyfe and History of Saynt Werburge: Very Frutefull for All Christen People to Rede (Remains Historical & Literary Connected with the Palatine...
  - [T]he wiſe Man gave his Teſtimony to this, as the juſt Standard of true Felicity, when he prayed to have neither Poverty nor Riches.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 3
2. (countable) An instance of intense happiness.
(uncountable) An apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.; (countable) an apt and pleasing choice of words.
(rare, uncountable) Good luck; success; (countable) An instance of unexpected good luck; a stroke of luck; also, a lucky characteristic.

Synonyms:

good fortune, fortuity, fortune, fortuitousness, good cess, good luck, happiness, luck
(uncountable) Reproduction of a sign with fidelity.
- The quotation was rendered with felicity.
(countable) Something that is either a source of happiness or particularly apt.
- […] to weare our ſelues & neuer reſt,
  Untill we reach the ripeſt fruites of all,
  That perfect bliſſe and ſole felicitie,
  The ſweet fruition of an earthly crowne.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- The season’s main attraction, the felicities of the sun, dimmed in the light of our competition and our growing friendliness.2007 August 7, Joshua Ferris, “Table for two”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2020
(uncountable) Period (as opposed to lifetime) utility.
- In equation (19.24) U#95;C(#92;cdot) is the marginal felicity of consumption[.]2017, Ben J. Heidra, Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics, third edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 756

Proper noun capitalized: Felicity

Felicity

A female given name from English.
- Fliss had them. Felicity Benson, Happiness Benson. Except she's not very happy at the moment, not with me.2010, Sophie Hannah, A Room Swept White, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 130

felicity meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

felicity in Bengali

পরম সুখ, আনন্দ, প্রকাশের উপযুক্ততা, চমৎকারিত্ব

felicity in Telugu

felicity: గోము gōmu

More languagesFewer languages

felicity in Malayalam: ശ്രീ śrī
felicity in Kannada: ಸೌಭಾಗ್ಯ, ಸಂತೋಷ, ಆನಂದ, ಬರಹದ ಮಾಧುರ್ಯ
felicity in Punjabi: ਸੁਖ sukh

Examples of felicity in a sentence

Felicity fell over and hurt her arm. She'd had a few too many.
'Felicity is way smarter than you could ever hope to be.'
Yuanyang, the Mandarin duck, mates for life, and is hence a symbol of conjugal felicity.

All 13 example sentences with felicity

Synonyms of felicity

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

infelicity

All synonyms and antonyms of felicity

Forms of felicity

plural	felicities

Origin of felicity

From Middle English felicite (“bliss, happiness, joy; delight, pleasure; a source of happiness; good fortune; prosperity; well-being; of a planet: in an influential position”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French felicité (modern French félicité (“bliss, happiness; felicity”)), from Latin fēlīcitātem, the accusative singular of fēlīcitās (“fertility, fruitfulness; happiness, felicity; good fortune; success”), from fēlīx (“happy; blessed, fortunate, lucky; fertile, fruitful; prosperous; auspicious, favourable”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to nurse, suckle”)) + -itās (a variant of -tās (suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being)).

From the noun felicity, and also the English form of Latin Felicitas, a name borne by early martyrs.

Words formed from felicity

Words that rhyme with felicity

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about felicity

What does felicity mean?: Felicity means the condition of being happy.
What is felicity in Tamil?: Felicity in Tamil is இன்பநிலை, மகிழ்நிலை. See Felicity meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is felicity?: Felicity can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce felicity?: Felicity is pronounced /fɪˈlɪsɪti/ (UK).
What is the plural of felicity?: The plural of felicity is felicities.

Words near felicity in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-felicity.ogg.

Cite this entry: “felicity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/felicity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.