euphoric

Etymology

It is formed from English euphoria + -ic.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Euphoria, a physicians' word recorded from 1684, is a medical Latin word, from a Greek noun meaning "power of enduring easily", from Ancient Greek εὔφορος (eúphoros, “bearing well”), formed from εὖ (eû, “well”) and φέρω (phérō, “to bear, carry”),^[3][2] from Proto-Indo-European *bher- (“to carry”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Characterized by euphoria: 1885, at first of the effects of cocaine, according to Etymonline.^[3] The OED's first quotation is from the American Journal of Psychology in 1888.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Euphoria was long a medical term for a feeling of health and comfort, especially in a sick person, and spread into general use from 1882;^[3] the adjective followed within a few years.^[3] The OED's definition moves from "characterized by euphoria" to a general sense of well-being and cheerfulness, and to producing such a feeling.^[2] Modern definitions are stronger: the Oxford Dictionary of English speaks of intense excitement and happiness.^[7] The noun, a drug that produces euphoria, is dated to 1885 by Etymonline and to 1934, in Webster's New International Dictionary, by the OED;^[3][2] the same sense was later carried by euphoriant, a noun from 1946.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1885 – characterized by euphoria, at first of the effects of cocaine.^[3] The OED's first quotation is from 1888.^[2]
• 1885 – noun, a drug that produces euphoria.^[3] The OED first records it in 1934.^[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Feeling or marked by intense happiness and excitement: The team was euphoric after the late winner.^[7][4][2]
2. Producing a feeling of euphoria or well-being, as a drug may.^[2][3]

Noun

1. A drug that produces euphoria; a euphoriant.^[2][3]

Word family

• euphorically

Related words

• euphoria
• euphoriant
• eu-

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)