Meanings
- informalsimileExtremely happy and carefree.
Their purpose couldn’t be clearer or more sinister. They are hoping lots of us will pause and ask ourselves: “Why do we need independence when Scotland is quite palpably as happy as Larry?”
2017 April 22, Kevin McKenna, “Scotland a happy place? Don’t make me laugh”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: happy
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveExtremely happy and carefree.
Origin
This has been said to refer to the Australian boxer Larry Foley (1849–1917), who never lost a fight. This is not likely as the earliest reference to the phrase is in a letter to the editor of the Illawarra Mercury in Wollongong, Australia in 1857. In it the correspondent "G U A" (probably Dr. George Underwood Alley, known for regularly corresponding with newspapers) writes "...we'll all live together, like Brown's cows, and be as happy as Larry."
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan feliç com un gínjol
- feliç com un gínjolextremely happy and carefree
Spanish feliz como una perdiz, más feliz que una perdiz
- feliz como una perdizextremely happy and carefree
- más feliz que una perdizextremely happy and carefree
Cite this entry
happy as Larry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/happy%20as%20Larry
“happy as Larry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/happy%20as%20Larry. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “happy as Larry,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/happy%20as%20Larry.
Source: happy as Larry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.