From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmerrymer‧ry /ˈmeri/ ●●○ adjective 1 → Merry Christmas!2 HAPPY literary happy SYN cheerful, jolly He marched off, whistling a merry tune. He’s a lovely man with merry eyes and a wide smile.3 → the more the merrier4 [not before noun] British English informal slightly drunk SYN tipsy5 → make merry6 old useNICE pleasant the merry month of June —merriness noun [uncountable] → play (merry) hell with something at hell1(25), → lead somebody a merry old dance at lead1(19)
Examples from the Corpus
merry• She smiled, her eyes bright and merry.• This might appeal to investors who figure that when it comes to fund choices, the more the merrier.• It's the elderly Morkan sisters' annual Yuletide fete, where three generations gather each year to make merry.• Now Miller Brewing is joining the ranks of the more the merrier.• After dark, drunken shouts, merry and angry, echoed up from the street.• I get in the bath and Radish gets in with me and floats about as merry as a little duck.• Eat, drink and be merry at the Medieval Night which includes a meal, free drinks and an open-air castle disco.• Stevens and his merry band are severely uniformed in white blazers, violently creased red flares and clean fingernails.• We were all very merry by the time the party broke up.• Some of the officers got quite merry celebrating our recent victory.• The merry old woman had a hard time not laughing as they carried her into the coach.Origin merry Old English myrge, merge