Happy Vs Glad: What Is The Difference In Their Meanings?

Vocabulary / By

Two words in the English language that have similar meanings are happy and glad, but which one is the better word to use?

Both happy and glad are able to be used in the same way, so you can use them interchangeably. It doesn’t matter which version of the word you use since they’re close synonyms, so you don’t have to worry about using them incorrectly.

The rest of this article will cover the definition of happy, the definition of glad, and how to use them.

The Definition Of Happy

Happy is a common word used in all sorts of writing. Whether you’re writing an essay or a novel, you can use happy to describe a joyful emotion. It’s most common meaning comes in the form of an adjective to describe satisfaction, pleasure, and other positive emotions.

The Definition Of Glad

Glad can be used in many different ways, but it’s most commonly used as an adjective. When used as an adjective, it’s there to express a pleased or delighted state, typically caused by something such as hearing good news, or watching an amazing movie.

It’s also commonly used as a verb. When in verb form, glad means to make someone pleased or delighted.

How To Use Happy And Glad

Writers utilize glad to create better word choice in their stories, so if you’re looking for solid word choice, you should stick with glad. If you’re looking for something to the point, you should go for happy, although it doesn’t matter what word you use since they’re interchangeable.

In general, glad is better for expressing a direct cause of happiness. For example: my presentation was a success; I feel glad. The word glad is being used to express the direct cause of what the narrator is feeling.

The opposite is true for happiness. When using happy, the word is more commonly referred to as a state of mind. Instead of being direct, it’s used for those looking to describe the overall feeling the narrator has. For example: I feel happy. It’s presented as a general state of mind.

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t use happy as a direct cause, and you can’t use glad as a state of mind. Since the words are so closely related, you can use them in whatever way you feel will flow better in your writing.

 

Conor
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