bliss

plural blisses

1. countableuncountablePerfect happiness.

   The afternoon at the spa was utter bliss.

   4 more examples

   Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, / But to be young was very heaven!

   a. 1851, William Wordsworth, “The French Revolution as It Appeared to Enthusiasts at Its Commencement”, in Henry [Hope] Reed, editor, The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Philadelphia, Pa.: Hayes & Zell, […], published 1860, →OCLC, page 188

   What can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly, by a feeling of bliss—absolute bliss!—as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe?

   1918 August, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Bliss”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 116

   When they insist on knowing my bliss I tell them this When they want to know what the reason is I only smile when I lie, then I tell them why

   1980, Daryl Hall, Janna Allen, “Kiss on My List”, in Voices, performed by Hall & Oates

   So who is this saying that money is bliss? Your logic remiss You and the devil about to kiss

   2002, CYNE, “Steady”, in Movements

present singular third person blisses · participle present blissing · participle past blissed · past blissed

1. intransitiveusuallyTo feel bliss; (by extension) to reach a state of bliss or ecstasy.

   I'm still blissing out after our date. I had a great time.

alternative Blish

1. An English surname transferred from the nickname originating as a nickname.
2. rareA unisex given name from English.

   "Mother doesn't seem to especially like her little granddaughter as it is, even named 'Edna Louise'. D'you think she's going to like her better, named 'Bliss' like some sexpot pop star or some Indian-mystic asshole-charlatan?" Betsey winced. "Bliss" was a beautiful name!

   2008, Joyce Carol Oates, My Sister, My Love, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 97

3. computinga programming language used for systems programming primarily on computers produced by Digital Equipment Corporation. Bliss is a parallel language to C, both being derived from B and BCPL
4. A place in the United States:
   1. A ghost town in California.
   2. A minor city in Gooding County, Idaho.
   3. An unincorporated community in Adair County, Kentucky.
   4. A township in Emmet County, Michigan, named after Aaron T. Bliss.
   5. An unincorporated community in Washington County, Missouri.
   6. A census-designated place in the town of Eagle, Wyoming County, New York.
   7. Former name of Old Bliss, Oklahoma.