happily ever after
A story, or a conclusion to a story, in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied…A story, or a conclusion to a story, in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness.
» Hopefully, we'll live happily ever after.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(idiomatic)A story, or a conclusion to a story, in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness.
(broadly, idiomatic)A happy period of time which is imagined never to end; specifically, the state of happiness in which one or more people (typically a loving couple) dwell for the rest of his, her, their, etc., lives.
Examples
14 sentencesHopefully, we'll live happily ever after.
Tom and Mary lived happily ever after.
deTom und Maria waren glücklich bis an ihr Lebensende. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
I hope they live happily ever after.
ruЯ надеюсь, что они будут жить долго и счастливо. — BW
I hope that they live happily ever after.
ruЯ надеюсь, что они будут жить долго и счастливо. — BW
And they lived happily ever after.
deUnd sie lebten glücklich immerdar. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
The adverb is derived from happily (adverb) + ever after (adverb), used as a formulaic endThe adverb is derived from happily (adverb) + ever after (adverb), used as a formulaic ending in works for children especially since the 19th century. The noun is derived from the adverb.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: happily ever aftersSynonyms
3 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.