in a joyful and cheerful way
The children happily splashed in the shallow pool under the summer sun.
She happily hummed a tune while painting the fence bright yellow.
✦ Formed from the adjective “happy” + adverbial suffix “-ly”, first recorded in Middle English.
with willingness or pleasure
I’ll happily babysit your daughter while you attend the meeting.
The mechanic happily stayed late to finish fixing the family’s only car.
used to say that something fortunate occurred
Happily, the storm passed before the outdoor wedding began.
Happily, no one was injured in the sudden blackout.
