# merry

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈmɛ.ɹi/ · frequency rank #9,210

## Definitions
1. Jolly and full of high spirits; happy.
2. Festive and full of fun and laughter.
3. Brisk
4. Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight.
5. drunk; tipsy

## Etymology
From Middle English mery, merie, mirie, myrie, murie, murȝe, from Old English meriġe, miriġe, myriġe, myreġe, myrġe (“pleasing, agreeable; pleasant, sweet, delightful; melodious”), from Proto-West Germanic *murgī (“short, slow, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *murguz (“short, slow”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short”). Cognate with Scots mery, mirry (“merry”), Middle Dutch mergelijc (“pleasant, agreeable, joyful”), Norwegian dialectal myrjel (“small object, figurine”), Latin brevis (“short, small, narrow, shallow”), Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short”). Doublet of brief.

## Easily confused with
- **MERS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-mers)
- **Merv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-merv)
- **messy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-messy)
- **metre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-metre)
- **Meryl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-meryl)
- **Morty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-morty)
- **murky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-murky)
- **moray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-moray)
- **myrrh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-myrrh)
- **Murray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-murray)
- **Mervyn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-mervyn)
- **Mersey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merry-vs-mersey)
- **mer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mer-vs-merry)
- **Mary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mary-vs-merry)
- **mere** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mere-vs-merry)
- **Marr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/marr-vs-merry)
- **Merc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merc-vs-merry)
- **Meir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/meir-vs-merry)
- **meer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/meer-vs-merry)
- **Mehr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mehr-vs-merry)

## Common misspellings (6)
`emrry`, `merryy`, `mery`, `meryr`, `mmerry`, `mrery`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/merry