These words refer to positive frames of mind or to a brightly optimistic disposition. Cheerful suggests an extroverted and open manner that is warm, pleasant and contented: She smiled back at the cheerful faces of her students; the cheerful holidaymakers at the seaside. Cheery , by contrast, can suggest a cheerful manner that is forced or intrusive in its attempts to make others feel better. The cheery nurse in the hospital who proved to be such a grating nuisance. The word can sometimes be less unpleasant in tone: giving me a cheery wink as I passed by.

Happy suggests an inward state of contentment that does not necessarily show itself in any outward bustle such as cheerful or cheery may indicate: so happy at the news that tears gathered in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Sunny refers particularly to an untroubled disposition that is warm and friendly: a sunny laughter that rang out from the kitchen; the sunny expressions of children at a circus.

Bot blithe and winsome suggest a light lack of seriousness in manner. Blithe particularly indicates an almost reckless insouciance or indomitable light-headedness: a blithe way of stuffing unpaid bills in a drawer, as though that would take care of them; a bli the willingness to try anything on impulse. Winsome contrasts with blithe by suggesting an almost staid sweetness or delicacy of manner, warm but subdued; it is most often applied to women: a winsome smile that in the next minute turned into an embarrassed blush.

ANTOMYMS: downcast, gloomy, miserable, sad, woebegone.