But are their opposites?Īpathy’s opposite is ardor or fervor, or maybe passion.Ĭomplacency has a lot of meanings, but would awareness maybe be its opposite?Įmptiness, loneliness, and dissolution are opposed by fullness, relationship, and completeness.įor misery and despair we might go with delight or maybe hopefulness.Īnd anguish’s opposite is something like comfort or solace. None of these are ingredients in the recipe for joy. If none of the words my Facebook friends suggested are precisely the opposite of joy, it can certainly be said the joy does not include any of these things. “Misery” and “despair” each have a hopeless, lethargic feeling, whereas “anguish” seems to be more active. “Emptiness,” “loneliness,” and “dissolution” are similar. “Apathy” and “complacency” are kind of in the same category a neutral and uninspired approach to life. For example, if the opposite of joy is “sorrow” or “sadness,” are we saying joy the same as happiness? Surely not, if what we mean is the superficial feeling of momentary pleasure that we call happiness sometimes, but maybe so if we’re talking true happiness, which then begs the question, what makes happiness “true?” See, I’m thinking about the opposite of joy as a means to understanding joy itself.
That says to me that “joy” is a deep and multi-faceted idea, open to a wide range of interpretations. It is fascinating that so many different words were offered by different people. (I think the “summer” response was supposed to be a joke.) I also liked Ed’s response, “A week without church.” And the words people offered were very different – misery, sorrow, summer, despair, dissolution, sadness, loneliness, anguish, apathy, emptiness, and complacency. When I posted the question on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, there were 11 unique responses in 35 minutes.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. My cousin Matt said that the active form of joy’s opposite would be hate. I read somewhere that the opposite of joy is fear. Leslie Weatherhead said, “The opposite of joy is not sorrow.
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