kellemes ünnepeket
To say "happy holidays" in Hungarian, use kellemes ünnepeket.
kellemes ünnepeket is used as a general greeting during the winter holiday season, which covers both Christmas and the New Year.
Meaning: holiday greeting (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of kellemes, meaning pleasant and ünnepeket, meaning holidays or festivities.
Which one should you use?
While kellemes ünnepeket (pleasant holidays) is very common, Boldog ünnepeket! (happy holidays) is also used and carries a slightly more enthusiastic tone.
Did you know?
- The word kellemes is derived from the verb kell, which primarily means 'to be necessary' or 'must' in a grammatical sense. This links the feeling of 'pleasantness' to something that is inherently 'needed' or 'desirable'.
- In Hungarian culture, these greetings are often accompanied by a firm handshake and direct eye contact, as avoiding eye contact during a greeting can be seen as untrustworthy.
- The plural form ünnepeket uses the accusative case marker -et, even though there is no visible verb like 'I wish' in the shortened greeting.
Examples in context
- Kellemes ünnepeket!Happy holidays.This sentence is useful for expressing a simple "Happy holidays."Tatoeba #7358967 by H_Liliom, translation #2044389 by CK
- Kellemes Húsvéti Ünnepeket!Happy Easter!
- Békés Ünnepeket!Peaceful holidays!
- Kellemes ünnepeket mindenkinek!Happy holidays to everyone!
Example conversation
Gábor and Anna meet at a festive office party.
- GáborKellemes ünnepeket, Anna!Happy holidays, Anna!
- AnnaKöszönöm, Gábor! Neked is!Thank you, Gábor! To you too!
- GáborKellemes ünnepeket kívánok!I wish you happy holidays!
- AnnaNagyon köszönöm szépen!Thank you very much!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “happy holidays” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries kellemes, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
