How to say “happiness” in 40 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- felicidad/feliθiˈdad/ Spanish
- счастье[ˈɕːæsʲtʲje] Russian
- سعادة/sa.ʕaː.da/ Arabic
- 행복[ˈhɛ(ː)ŋbo̞k̚] Korean
- ευτυχία/ef.tiˈçi.a/ Greek
- ბედნიერება[b̥e̞dnie̞ɾe̞bä] Georgian
“happiness” in Spanish: felicidad · German: glück · Portuguese: felicidade · Korean: 행복 · Russian: счастье · Arabic: سعادة · Turkish: mutluluk · Greek: ευτυχία
It is commonest in Malayalam, where സന്തോഷം is the 136th most used word.
Happiness in other languages, A to Z
- Arabic سعادة/sa.ʕaː.da/ happiness, gladness #1,753
- Bengali সুখ/ʃukʰ/ happiness, bliss, felicity #998
- Bosnian sreća/srêt͡ɕa/ #1,284
- Bulgarian щастие[ˈʃtastiɛ] #1,105
- Catalan felicitats[fə.li.siˈtats] #1,610
- Croatian sreća/srêt͡ɕa/ #1,216
- Czech štěstí[ˈʃcɛsciː] #385
- Danish lykke/løkə/ #627
- English alright/ˌɑlˈɹaɪt/ An expression of happiness #557
- Esperanto feliĉon/feˈlit͡ʃon/ #1,337
- Estonian rõõm/ˈrɤːm/ joy, happiness #786
- Finnish ilo/ˈilo/ joy, happiness, delight, merriment, mirth #1,785
- Galician felicidade/feliθiˈdade/ #1,047
- Georgian ბედნიერება[b̥e̞dnie̞ɾe̞bä] #970
- German glück/ɡlʏk/ happiness, joy, bliss #376
- Greek ευτυχία/ef.tiˈçi.a/ happiness, contentment #1,855
- Hebrew שמחה/simˈχa/ joy, happiness, glee #532
- Hindi आनंद/ɑː.nənd̪/ bliss, pleasure, happiness, joy #809
- Icelandic hamingju/ˈhaːmiɲcʏ/ #352
- Indonesian kebahagiaan/kəbahaɡiˈaan/ happiness; felicity #1,603
- Korean 행복[ˈhɛ(ː)ŋbo̞k̚] #2,172
- Latvian laimes/ˈlaimes/ #1,167
- Lithuanian laimė[¹ˈlɑˑɪmʲeː] #1,388
- Macedonian среќа[ˈsrɛca] #273
- Malayalam സന്തോഷം/sɐn̪t̪oːʂɐm/ #136
- Norwegian lykke/lyke/ #616
- Polish szczęście/ˈʂt͡ʂɛw̃ɕ.t͡ɕɛ/ #605
- Portuguese felicidade/fe.li.siˈda.d͡ʒi/ #2,224
- Romanian fericire/fe.riˈt͡ʃi.re/ happiness, joy, felicity #1,365
- Russian счастье[ˈɕːæsʲtʲje] happiness, good luck #2,125
- Serbian sreća/srêt͡ɕa/ #1,099
- Slovak šťastie/ʃcascɪ̯e/ #371
- Slovenian i/ˈíː/ used to denote happiness after correct… #368
- Spanish felicidad/feliθiˈdad/ #1,795
- Swedish lycka/²lʏkːa/ joy, happiness #666
- Tagalog kasiyahan/kasiˈahan/ happiness; contentment; satisfaction #1,173
- Tamil மகிழ்ச்சி/mɐɡɪɻtʃtʃiː/ happiness, joy #213
- Turkish mutluluk/mut.ɫuˈɫuk/ happiness, joy #1,628
- Ukrainian щастя[ˈʃt͡ʃasʲtʲɐ] #935
- Urdu خوشی/xʊ.ʃiː/ happiness; pleasure; delight; joy #325
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.