gladden

This verb carries a warm, emotional quality often associated with relief or a sudden shift from sadness to joy. It is more formal and literary than common alternatives like make happy, frequently appearing in written narratives or heartfelt speeches to describe a deep internal response to positive news. Because it describes an emotional state, it is almost exclusively used in the transitive sense, where an external event or piece of information acts upon a person's spirit or heart. It is rarely used in casual, everyday conversation, where speakers prefer simpler phrasing.