To be on cloud nine means to be very happy—blissful—such as when falling in love, or getting one’s dream job.
The phrase appears to have mystical origins. Mysticism is the practice of experiencing the divine—God, Buddha, Brahma, Tao, etc.—through meditation. This experience has often been described as like walking on air or being in the clouds—to feel no weight, which is very comfortable, like soaking in a hot bath!
The number nine also has spiritual meaning in many traditions, perhaps because it is 3×3, and 3 is a magical number in most cultures. In any case, there are other English phrases with nines, having positive meaning—to go the whole nine yards, dressed to the nines; there are nine Muses (goddesses of arts) and cats have nine lives.
Some people claim that cloud nine comes from a system for classifying clouds, in which nine was the highest classification, but this is not true. In fact, when the phrase first appeared, in America, during the 1930s, there are examples of people saying cloud seven or cloud eight—also mystical numbers by the way. But by 1946, it became cloud nine.
Examples of “On cloud nine” in a Sentence
- “They’re on Cloud Nine, like any other newly engaged couple”.
- Gavin is still on cloud nine after bagging the top prize in Berlin.
- Johnny is on cloud nine and hasn’t been this happy in months.
- Just one day after their wedding, Lisa was on cloud nine.
- The couple are on cloud nine after welcoming their first daughter on Saturday.