Be in seventh heaven
- (a)To be extremely sorry
- (b)To be extremely wise
- (c)To be extremely sad
- (d)To be extremely happy
Correct — D, to be extremely happy. To be in seventh heaven is to be in a state of intense delight. The phrase draws on an older cosmology, found in Jewish and Islamic tradition, in which heaven is arranged in seven spheres, the seventh and outermost being the highest and the dwelling of the angels.
- (a)To be extremely sorry — Regret has its own expressions; nothing in this phrase suggests apology or remorse.
- (b)To be extremely wise — The seventh heaven marks the height of joy, not of understanding.
- (c)To be extremely sad — The opposite sense — sadness is 'down in the dumps' or 'feeling blue'.
'In seventh heaven' means extremely happy — at the very top of one's joy.
The number is doing the work. The seventh sphere is the topmost one, so seventh heaven stands for the highest happiness there is. 'On cloud nine' and 'over the moon' carry the same meaning through different images, and the three are worth learning together because papers rotate them.
- In Jewish and Islamic cosmology the heavens are seven spheres, the seventh being the outermost and the dwelling of the angels.
- 'On cloud nine' and 'over the moon' are close synonyms.
- 'Down in the dumps' is the opposite.
- Choosing 'wise' because 'heaven' sounds elevated.
- Picking the plain opposite, 'sad'.
Asked as an idioms-and-phrases item — choose the option that gives the meaning of the phrase.
To be in seventh heaven
- (a) To fly in the air
- (b) To be extremely happy
- (c) To be completely alone
- (d) To visit a place which is in the list of the seven wonders of the world
Answer(b) To be extremely happy
The very same idiom, 'To be in seventh heaven', was set in the NDA & NA (II) 2019 English section — a clear signal that this phrase recurs.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'Over the moon' means:
- (a)lost in thought
- (b)extremely pleased
- (c)very late at night
- (d)far away from home
Answer(b) extremely pleased — it is a close synonym of 'in seventh heaven'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'Down in the dumps' means:
- (a)living in poverty
- (b)feeling low and unhappy
- (c)working at a landfill
- (d)heavily in debt
Answer(b) feeling low and unhappy — the phrase is the opposite of being in seventh heaven.