嬉しさ

• 読み: うれしさ
• ローマ字: ureshisa
• 漢字の分解: 嬉 (ureshi) — joy, delight; しさ — nominalising suffix (-shisa)
• 発音: /ɯ.ɾe.ɕi.sa/

意味

Happiness; joy; delight; gladness. The quality or degree of being pleased or overjoyed by a positive event.

Formed by adding the nominalising suffix さ to the i-adjective 嬉しい (ureshii, happy, glad), converting the state into a measurable quality. It allows speakers to express not just that they are happy but to describe the depth or overflow of that happiness — often used in constructions like 嬉しさのあまり (so overjoyed that...) or 嬉しさで (with joy). More expressive than simply using 喜び.

例文

1. 合格通知を手にした瞬間の嬉しさは、言葉では表せないほどだった。
2. 久しぶりに再会した嬉しさのあまり、二人は抱き合った。
3. 思いがけない贈り物を受け取った嬉しさで、彼女の顔がほころんだ。

使い方ガイド

場面: daily life, celebrations, achievements, relationships

トーン: positive

起源と歴史

Formed from the i-adjective 嬉しい (ureshii, happy, glad) by adding the suffix さ. The kanji 嬉 contains the woman radical and a phonetic element suggesting expansive, overflowing joy. The さ nominalisation makes the emotion a quantifiable quality.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal