happy ending
108
1.7
- noun
- /ˈhæpi ˈɛndɪŋ/
:
final feliz
- The movie concluded with a happy ending, where the main characters found love and happiness together.
- a story with a happy ending
- a romance with a happy ending
- achieve a happy ending
I think with romance you're guaranteed a happy ending and that's the difference.
- I think with romance you're guaranteed a happy ending and that's the difference.
- History is not like a Hollywood movie with an happy ending as a guarantee.
- I like seeing that they turned their life around like they had a happy ending, you know?
- But the crazy thing is very few of them had a happy ending, at least on Earth.
- Because it's, you know, doesn't have a happy ending.
- And I do like, I do like a happy ending.
- Maybe you want to keep your illusions or your ideas about happy endings and relationships alive.
- And so it's a positive ending, but it isn't a happy ending in the Hollywood sense of the word.
- Sometimes when we get what we wish for, it isn't a happy ending.
- Like really strange and different, but hopefully with a happy ending.
- So this was an instance where actually there was a happy ending.
Examples
-
The alternative vision of the future makes the happy ending infinitely more satisfying.
Academic text (2011) -
Why don't we give this story a happy ending?
-
So I was glad that we had a happy ending to our day of dead ends.
-
I like seeing that they turned their life around like they had a happy ending, you know?
-
But the crazy thing is very few of them had a happy ending, at least on Earth.
-
Even the worst day can have a happy ending if one is able to do that.
Academic text (1993) -
What would you say is a happy ending for Ruby when this is all said and done?
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If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.
Fiction book (1999) -
I've found my happy ending at last.
-
She deserves to have her happy ending.
Synonyms
9
3.6
A result that is good or wanted
4
1.7
A positive final part of a story or event that makes you feel satisfied
Antonyms
How Positive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a positive or satisfying conclusion' is directly and compositionally derivable from combining 'happy' (positive, good) with 'ending' (conclusion), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE. The adjective+noun structure is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common pattern (e.g., Spanish 'final feliz', French 'fin heureuse'), supporting immediate interpretability.
Etymology
Happy ending comes from fairy tales and old stories where the ending shows the characters living 'happily ever after'. That's why happy ending now means a positive or satisfying conclusion.