# Vocabulary: word for not needing much for happiness?... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126 "2016-09-28T16:54:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/1 "2016-09-28T16:54:09Z")
I recall years ago seeing a word or term that describes the state of, or a person who, is happy and satisfied with very little, who doesn’t need much to be happy. The word might have been derived from or originated in stoicism. Any idea what this word is? My web search gave me Eudaimonia; but I think there’s a word that specifically means being happy with little. > **[Eudaimonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudaimonia)** > > Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία \[eu̯dai̯moníaː\]; sometimes anglicized as eudaemonia or eudemonia, /juːdɪˈmoʊniə/) is a Greek word literally translating to the state or condition of 'good spirit', and which is commonly translated as 'happiness' or 'welfare'. > In works of Aristotle, eudaimonia was the term for the highest human good in older Greek tradition. It is the aim of practical philosophy-prudence, including ethics and political philosophy, to consider and experience what this state really is,... ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/2 "2016-09-28T17:11:29Z")
Possibly ascetic? ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/3 "2016-09-28T17:40:42Z")
[Ataraxia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataraxia)? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/4 "2016-09-28T17:45:45Z")
Content? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/5 "2016-09-28T18:09:02Z")
Spartan? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/6 "2016-09-28T18:18:21Z")
“Low-maintenance” is in the same ballpark, but it’s not exactly what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/7 "2016-09-28T18:57:23Z")
Simple. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/8 "2016-09-28T20:02:13Z")
“Placable”: easily placated or pleased. One site gives “tractable” as a synonym but that means more manageable. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary-word-for-not-needing-much-for-happiness/767126/9 "2016-09-29T18:49:38Z")
I’m the OP– Thx for good replies–I think **Half Man Half Wit** ’s “Ataraxia” must be the one I’m thinking of– The specification “happy with very little” might have been an explanatory phrase from a blog or something that was discussing a simple or spartan lifestyle, and not necessarily called out in the formal def–