gaiety

or gay·e·ty

[ gey-i-tee ]
See synonyms for gaiety on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural gai·e·ties.
  1. the state of being joyous, vivacious, or cheerful.

  2. Often gaieties. merrymaking or festivity: the gaieties of the New Year season.

  1. showiness; finery: gaiety of dress.

Origin of gaiety

1
1625–35; <French gaieté, equivalent to gaigay + -té-ty2

Other words for gaiety

Opposites for gaiety

Other words from gaiety

  • su·per·gai·e·ty, noun

Words Nearby gaiety

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gaiety in a sentence

  • He hurried to the Hotel d'Ettres; but the scenes of careless gaiety he saw there, seemed only to chafe his mind.

  • Spontaneous gaiety was gone out of his cousin, whose attempts to be his normal self became forced and unsuccessful.

    The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
  • The usual excited happiness was less obvious, he thought, than usual, the mercurial gaiety wholly absent.

    The Wave | Algernon Blackwood

British Dictionary definitions for gaiety

gaiety

/ (ˈɡeɪətɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. the state or condition of being merry, bright, or lively

  2. festivity; merrymaking

  • Also (esp US): gayety

gaiety

See gay

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012