to be on cloud nine
5
4.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
estar en las nubes
- He was on cloud nine when he found out he got the job he wanted.
- be on cloud nine," says
- floating on cloud nine
- still be on cloud nine
Examples
-
I was still on cloud nine from my first interaction with Lance.
Blog text (20) -
Money can't buy happiness, goes the old adage, but if it could, Amancio Ortega would be floating on cloud nine.
Blog text (2) -
Rush will be on cloud nine.
Blog text (15) -
- I'm on cloud nine.
-
I was on cloud nine all day, and you bet I stuffed my face with food at the reception.
Blog text (22) -
You look like you're on cloud nine.
Fiction book (1993) -
I was on cloud nine, and I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment.
Blog text (23) -
The first time these emotions happen, you will inexplicably find yourself floating on cloud nine.
Blog text (29) -
Right now she's on cloud nine with that quack Zinthrop but I'd hate to be around when she comes back down to Earth.
-
He appointed Meret Agha, who had just gotten married and was on cloud nine, under the spell of his new wife's coquetry.
Fiction book (1996)
Synonyms
9
5.9
Feeling very happy and excited
8
3.8
To feel very happy and successful after a big achievement
6
7.0
Feel or show great joy after a success
6
2.5
Move or jump because you are very happy
2
4.4
Feeling very happy and full of energy
2
4.1
Feeling very happy and excited
1
3.7
Feeling very happy and excited
1
5.5
Feeling very pleased and excited
1
3.8
To feel very happy and excited
1
6.7
Feeling very happy and peaceful
Very excited and happy in an obvious way
Antonyms
How Happy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to feel extremely happy' is derived via a metaphorical image (being elevated on a cloud) but is not compositionally predictable from the literal meanings of 'cloud' and the arbitrary numeral 'nine'. A B1 learner who knows the individual words would be unlikely to infer the exact sense without prior exposure; the phrase is a conventionalized idiom with limited cross-linguistic transparency.
Etymology
The idiom be on cloud nine comes from the image of someone so happy they seem to float on a soft cloud high above the world. So saying be on cloud nine means 'to feel extremely happy'.