Dictionary

happy ending en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌhæpi ˈɛndɪŋ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From happy (adjective) + ending (noun).

Meanings

1. A conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness.
   • Life is not to be conceived on the analogy of a melodrama in which the hero and heroine go through incredible misfortunes for which they are compensated by a happy ending. 1930 October, Bertrand Russell, “Byronic Unhappiness”, in The Conquest of Happiness, London: George Allen & Unwin, published December 1930, →OCLC, part I (Causes of Unhappiness), page 33:
   • On the return journey the engine ran short of coal, and came to a stand near Penygroes through shortage of steam. Fortunately, there was some peat in a nearby field, which the enginemen dug and the directors helped to carry to the engine. Steam was soon raised and the story had a happy ending! 1958 September, J. M. Dunn, “The Afonwen Line—1”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 595-596:
   • [A]nother would say that it [a novel being good] depends on a "happy ending," on a distribution at the last of prizes, pensions, husbands, wives, babies, millions, appended paragraphs, and cheerful remarks. 1884 September, Henry James, “The Art of Fiction”, in Partial Portraits, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1888, →OCLC, page 382:
   • The heroine was killed, and since then the happy ending has only been preserved in an appendix in the play. 1827 June 8, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sydney, N.S.W.: George Howe, →OCLC, page 4, column 3:
   • And she said: / "Don't you know that storybook loves, / Always have a happy ending." 1987 November 12, “Storybook Love”, in Willy DeVille (music), The Princess Bride (soundtrack), Burbank, Calif.: Warner Bros. Records, →OCLC:
   • [S]ome Gentlemen, declared againſt Tragedies in general, and in favour of Comedies, […] And hovv vvas this happy ending to be brought about? VVhy, by this very eaſy and trite expedient; to vvit, by reforming Lovelace, and marrying him to Clariſſa— […] 1750, [Samuel Richardson], “Postscript. Referred to in the Preface. In which Several Objections that have been Made, as well to the Catastrophe as to Different Parts of the Preceding History, are Briefly Considered.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], 3rd edition, volume VIII, London: Printed for S. Richardson, and sold by John Osborn, […]; [b]y Andrew Millar, […]; [b]y J[ohn] and J[ames] Rivington, […]; [a]nd by J. Leake, […], →OCLC, page 278:
   • Modern romance, like Greek tragedy, celebrates the mystery of dismemberment, which is life in time. The happy ending is justly scorned as a misrepresentation; for the world, as we know it, as we have seen it, yields but one ending: death, disintegration, dismemberment, and the crucifixion of our heart with the passing of the forms that we have loved. 1949, Joseph Campbell, “The Monomyth”, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Cleveland, Oh.; New York, N.Y.: Meridian Books, The World Publishing Company, published April 1969, →OCLC, pages 25–26:
   • Death ends all things and so is the comprehensive conclusion of a story, but marriage finishes it very properly too and the sophisticated are ill-advised to sneer at what is by convention termed a happy ending. 1944, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter 1, in The Razor’s Edge […], 1st American edition, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Co., →OCLC, section i, page 1:
   • [A]s we left the theatre, he [William Dean Howells] summed up the reason of the play's failure. "Yes—what the American public always wants is a tragedy with a happy ending". 1934, Edith Wharton, “New York and the Mount”, in A Backward Glance, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton-Century Company, →OCLC, page 147:
   • Well, what did you expect in an opera? A happy ending? 1957 July 6, Michael Maltese, What’s Opera, Doc? (Merrie Melodies), spoken by Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc), Burbank, Calif.: Warner Bros. Cartoons, →OCLC:
2. (broadly, euphemistic, slang, vulgar) An orgasm, especially one experienced by a male client after a hand job (“stimulation of the penis using the hand”) provided by a masseuse at the end of a massage.
   • "This not sucky sucky place, we don't do that, wesbian!" / "No," I argued. "I don't want sucky sucky, I just want a massage. It's okay if she doesn't know how to give a massage, but could she at least tickle my back?" / "No happy ending!" she yelled, getting louder. / "I don't want a happy ending, you hot mess, I just want a little back rub.[…]" It was mildly humiliating to be arguing with Dim Sum while I was lying naked on a table and being called a wesbian. 2008, Chelsea Handler, Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, New York, N.Y.: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 147:

Forms

Relateds

good ending

Synonyms

happily ever after · happy ever after · eucatastrophe · fairy-tale ending

Translations (48)

ru счастли́вый коне́ц (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · bg хепиенд (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · nl blijeinde (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · es final feliz (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · cmn 好結局 /好结局 (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · uk щасли́вий кіне́ць (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · fi onnellinen loppu (orgasm, especially one experienced by a male client after a hand job provided by a masseuse — see also orgasm) · fr fin heureuse (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · no happy ending (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · ro sfârșit fericit (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · vi kết thúc có hậu (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · nl happy ending (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · uk щасли́ве закі́нчення (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · ru хэ́ппи-э́нд (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · sk šťastný koniec (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · fr finition (orgasm, especially one experienced by a male client after a hand job provided by a masseuse — see also orgasm) · pt final feliz (orgasm, especially one experienced by a male client after a hand job provided by a masseuse — see also orgasm) · tr mutlu son (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · pt final feliz (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · uk хе́пі-е́нд (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · de Happy End (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · fi onnellinen loppu (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · bg щастлив край (orgasm, especially one experienced by a male client after a hand job provided by a masseuse — see also orgasm) · el χάπι εντ (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · fa پایان خوش (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · id akhir bahagia (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · de glückliches Ende (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · fr eucatastrophe (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · fa هپی اندینگ (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · cmn 大團圓結局 /大团圆结局 (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · ja ハッピーエンド (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · no lykkelig slutt (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · ko 해피 엔딩 (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · it lieto fine (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · cmn 大團圓 /大团圆 (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · ja ハッピーエンディング (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · ro final reușit (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · pl happy end (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · sv lyckligt slut (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · eo feliĉa fino (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · fr happy end (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · sk happyend (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · hu hepiend (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · ro final norocos (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · bg щастлив край (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · tl linggam (orgasm, especially one experienced by a male client after a hand job provided by a masseuse — see also orgasm) · lt laiminga pabaiga (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness) · ro final fericit (conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness)