DIRECTORY OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS
About Site | What’s New? | Feedback | Help
My Writing Portfolio at www.bykairos.com ​MAIN DIRECTORY MAIN WORD LISTS BY TOPIC MORE WORDS TO DISCOVER ​SEARCH THIS SITE
​Search site below or use Advanced Search to search the site & my vocabulary books.
VIEW UNTRANSLATABLE WORDS:
ALPHABETICAL | BY THEME | BY LANGUAGE
Category Home | Languages Sitemap

INDEX OF COLLECTION BY THEME COMPLETE COLLECTION OF WORDS ​​INDEX OF WORDS BY LANGUAGE
French | German | Greek | Hindi​ | Japanese | Latin Spanish ​
​
​Learn About Words From: The Reference Corner

TRANSLATING THE UNTRANSLATABLE
Words of Happiness

“The formula for happiness is not the same for everyone, but the good news is that the things we love to do are the building blocks of a happy life. Play, having new experiences, loving our friends and family, doing things that are meaningful, appreciating what we have, these are the things that make us happy, and they are free.” William Li
WORD DESCRIBING THE THEME OF THIS LIST
EUDAIMONIA
is often translated as ‘happiness’, it really means the deepest kind of fulfillment, often comprising a flourishing work and love life. It’s accepted that eudaimonia can go hand in hand with lots of day-to-day frustration and pain. (German)

WORDS OF HAPPINESS & JOY


​AILYAK - the art of doing everything slowly with no rush, while enjoying the process and life in general; like the Swahili ‘hakuna matata’ (Bulgarian)

ANANDA - bliss, lasting contentment; spiritual, ‘unconditional’ happiness. (Sanskrit)

ARBEJDSGLÆDE - the feeling of happiness provoked by a satisfying job (Danish)

​ASPALDIKO - the joy of meeting up with someone that you haven’t seen in a long time. (Basque)

BHAVA - when you're in a mental state of bliss or peace, a oneness that flits into you, especially when you're listening to music. (Sanskrit)

BILITA MPASH - an amazing dream. Not just a "good" dream; the opposite of a nightmare. (Bantu)

CALCALA - children wading through water as they play (Tulu)

COMMUOVERE - often taken to mean “heartwarming,” but directly refers to a story that moved you to tears. (Italian)

CWTCH - A hug — a safe haven given to you by the one you love. (Welsh)

DAUWTRAPPEN - to walk barefoot through the morning grass (Dutch)

DOLCE FAR NIENT - “sweet doing nothing…” is the literal translation. It’s a feeling that combines leisure, idleness, and laziness all at once. (Italian)

EUDAIMONIA - often translated as ‘happiness’, it really means the deepest kind of fulfillment, often comprising a flourishing work and love life. It’s accepted that eudaimonia can go hand in hand with lots of day-to-day frustration and pain. (German)

FAHRVERGNÜGEN – the love of simply driving. (German)

FARE LA SCARPETTA - means to mop the sauce left on your plate with a piece of bread. (Italian)

FLANER - leisurely strolling the streets of Paris without any goal or destination simply for the pleasure of soaking up the city's beauty. (French)

FLECHAZO - feeling that you've been struck by Cupid's arrow (when you have an intense connection with someone.) (Spanish)

FIRGUN - describes a generosity of spirit and the unselfish joy that something good has happened or might happen to someone else. (Hebrew)

FORELSKET - Euphoric feeling experienced when you start falling in love. (Norwegian)

GEMUTLICHKEIT - literally, it means a 'cozy, friendly, or nice atmosphere', but can also connote time spent with loved ones, the fact of seeing a friend after a long absence, the friendliness or chattiness of a specific person, or a general sense of togetherness. (German)

GIGIL - the urge to pinch or squeeze something that is irresistibly cute. (Filipino)

GÖKOTTA - wake up early in the morning with the specific purpose of going outside to hear the first birds sing. It confers approving societal attention on a highly enriching activity we have almost certainly been neglecting of late. (Swedish)

HANYAUKU – the act of walking on tiptoes across warm sand. (Samoan)

HARIKOA - joyful, euphoric, delighted, exuberant, elated, thrilled, ecstatic, jubilant. (Māori)

HÁZISÁRKÁNY – a nickname for your spouse or better half who is constantly nagging. It literally means an ‘Domestic Dragon’ (Hungarian)

HYGGELIG - refers to a warm, friendly, cozy, delightfully intimate moment or thing. It gives off imagery of a candlelit winter evening at home with warm blankets and maybe a bit of alcohol. (Danish)

IKIGAI - a reason for being; the thing that gets you up in the morning. (Japanese)

KILIG – the heady-sublime rush you experience right after after something good happens, particularly in love/dating. Like running into your crush, kissing someone for the first time, hearing someone you love tell you they love you too for the first time. (Tagalog)

KOMOREBI - refers to the sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees. (Japanese)

LYUBOVATSYA - to stare at something with admiration and adoration. It has the sense of basking in the wonderment of whatever it is you're looking at, taking enormous pleasure from just being in its presence. It is a much more self-indulgent feeling than the English ‘admire’. (Russian)

MAITRI - unconditional friendship / acceptance with oneself. (Sanskrit)

MECHAYE - joy, pleasure; something that gives great joy/pleasure. (Yiddish)

MERAK - refers to a feeling of bliss and the sense of oneness with the universe that comes from the simplest of pleasures. It is the pursuit of small, daily pleasures that all add up to a great sense of happiness and fulfillment. (Serbian)

OTIUM - the condition of being in control of one’s own time; leisure, free-time; ease, peace. (Latin)

PANTOFOLAIO - have you ever had the feeling of just wanting to stay home and relax, wearing comfortable clothes and slippers on your feet, and just do…nothing? This word literally means “someone wearing slippers” and is the equivalent of a “couch potato,” although it’s not limited to sitting on the couch with the remote. (Italian)

PAREA – when a group of friends gather to share life experiences, philosophies, values, and ideas. (Greek)

RETROUVAILLES - literally "rediscovery"; a reunion (e.g., with loved ones after a long time apart). (French)

SAMAR – staying up late after the sun has gone down and having an enjoyable time with friends. Samar is also an Arabic name meaning ‘evening conversations including Arabic music and poetry’. (Arabic)

SHINRIN-YOKU – the relaxation gained from bathing in the forest, figuratively or literally. (Japanese)

TAARRADHIN – the act of coming to a happy compromise where everyone wins. It’s a way of reconciling without anyone losing face. (Arabic)

TARAB - musically induced ecstasy or enchantment. Though the specific songs, emotional reactions, and reasons behind those reactions may vary from person to person, being moved by music is a universal experience—even babies sometimes cry when they hear certain songs. In Arabic, this sense of losing yourself in the music is called tarab. (Arabic)

SUKHA – genuine lasting happiness independent of circumstances (Sanskrit)

UBUNTU - being kind to others on account of one’s common humanity. (Zulu)

UTEPILS - to sit outside on a sunny day and enjoy a beer. (Norwegian)

What happens when there is a need for a word to define something and no such word exists?
Is “close enough” good enough?

​HOW DOES TRANSLATION WORK?
Read about it here.
ALPHABETICAL | BY THEME | GUIDE
A BEAUTIFUL WORD ... a vocabulary site for logophiles, writers and word lovers that is part of
A SERIES OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS
Collection of Vocabulary Books, Sites and Resources
Series Homepage | View Sites | Download Books
​Words are also posted on twitter under the hashtags #beautifulwords and #wordoftheday and shared visually on pinterest bulletin boards

ABOUT SITE | SITEMAPS | SEARCH | FEEDBACK
​Content by Kairos ~ @kairosoflife
Homepage | Portfolio | Contact
Original content ​© 2021 Copyright, Kairos