That’s a heavy load for a single word, or a single relationship, to bear. Aiming to “enrich our emotional landscape,” the authors compiled 216 words with no direct English translation. Happiness is that feeling that comes over you when you know life is good and you can't help but smile. Most of us probably don’t believe we need a formal definition of happiness; we know it when we feel it, and we often use the term to describe a range of positive emotions, including joy, pride, contentment, and gratitude. The problem arises when the same nebulous word is used to describe both rare moments of euphoria and the kind of sustained feeling of satiation we're told to strive for. Part of HuffPost Entertainment. Happiness can come from physical fitness, goal fulfillment, spontaneity, and myriad other things, but ideally all of them concurrently. A Hillary supporter, I was I did notice, however, that he wore his blonde hair in these greasy, unwashed tufts that contradicted his fashion choices, which were literally straight-laced and buttoned-up. Related feeling of great happiness crossword solver Achieve or accomplish Prohibits from flying Fire-breathing monster in mythology Covered walkway with columns Loose outer garments Talks loudly and incessantly Manufacture in bulk Specific task or duty Slanting edge Bread is made here Sharp reply Caribbean island Extremely impressive or … Happiness is composed in generic repetition of delight with a feeling of delight and desire. The "pursuit of happiness" is something this country is based on, and different people feel happiness for different reasons. I was When everyone else on our floor spent Mondays guzzling cans of Lone Star while watching “Flavor of Love,” he stayed holed up behind his desk studying differential equations. Is that why we rely so heavily on "happiness"?Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapterWe made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote!Part of HuffPost Entertainment. In Thai, Had these words been at my disposal, I might’ve stopped trying to describe my first, messy relationship using dull, insufficient terms. All rights reserved. In German and Spanish, the pleasure derived from food is distinct from emotional satisfaction. You know that feeling you get when you're at dinner with friends -- or maybe it's someone you're just getting to know -- and excited talk of great books or new movies carries on long past the scrounging up of your meal's last crumbs?The problem with letting happiness do all of our verbal dealings is that, according to some psychologists, the experience of a feeling is often understood through the words we use to describe it. Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. So why do so many people -- Americans in particular, it seems -- keep returning to the incomprehensible pursuit of happiness, rather than redefining their emotions in lovelier, or at least more appropriate, terms? When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happiness. One uses ‘happiness’ as a value term, roughly synonymous with well-being or flourishing. It's the opposite of sadness. Or, had I really listened during my (limited) math lessons, I would’ve recognized years ago that if Important conversations are happening now. But I was When he agreed to a lunch date, a skipped class, a camping trip, I was Influenced by the binary proliferated by concerned mothers and self-help shelves everywhere, I set out to place my first, messy relationship into one of two neat columns: This supposed act of self-betterment only muddied things further. But happiness is spread when our dear one is happy as well. This word doesn’t appear to exist in the English language, and a quick survey of world languages didn’t uncover it.