euforia

Euforia is the spelling used in several Romance and Slavic languages for the intense feeling of happiness or excitement familiar to English speakers as "euphoria." The term derives from the Greek euphoría, from eu- meaning "good" and phérō meaning "to bear" or "to carry," originally describing a healthy mood and now used to denote a strong positive emotional state.

In everyday language, euforia describes moments of great joy, triumph, or elation. In clinical or psychiatric contexts, it can be a symptom or feature of conditions such as mania or hypomania, or of substance use and certain medical or neurological states. Euphoria may be transient or prolonged and is often accompanied by heightened energy and reduced anxiety, though it can also lead to impaired judgment if extreme.

Neurobiologically, euphoria is linked to reward pathways in the brain, particularly dopaminergic circuits in the ventral striatum and prefrontal cortex. Neurotransmitters such as dopamine and endogenous opioids play key roles in generating and sustaining the sensation of intense well-being.

Differences from related states include the distinction between happiness, which is broader and more persistent, and elation, which is typically intense but shorter in duration. In many languages that spell it as euforia—such as Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, and Romanian—the word is used similarly to the English term, though cultural and linguistic nuances shape its precise connotation and usage.