blithely
Americanadverb
-
without much thought, concern, or care.
I blithely went ahead with my project without really considering the impact it would have on my career.
-
in a joyous or happy way; cheerfully or lightheartedly.
Left to my own devices I would blithely live the rest of my days imagining new recipes and tweaking old ones.
Etymology
Origin of blithely
Explanation
The adverb blithely describes something you do in a casually cheerful, somewhat neglectful way, like when you blithely ride your bike down the street, not even thinking about all the homework you have to do. Something that's done blithely is careless, like a group of kids blithely dashing off across a frozen pond on their ice skates, forgetting about their slower friend. You could talk blithely about your brand new laptop, forgetting that your friend can't afford a new computer. Blithely also means "happily," without implying that anything is being overlooked or ignored, like a winning team blithely celebrating their victory.
Vocabulary lists containing blithely
Animal Farm
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 8–13
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Stargirl
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Blithely good-natured and generally immune to shame, Richie Bravo is an equal-opportunity exploiter and exploitee; he’s happy to allow others to use his home, his fame and his body, and to use others in return.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2023
Blithely announcing and then cancelling retirement is currently all the rage in the wider film world – even among younger directors.
From The Guardian • Aug. 16, 2017
Blithely ignoring conflicts of interest, he remained a working composer throughout his tenure at The Herald Tribune.
From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2016
Blithely assuming that by mid-June the river would be down in its summer mode, I had not even bothered to check the Corps of Engineers Web site that gives daily water levels.
From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2010
Blithely unaware of how bad things really were, Konoval led me down the gallery and asked, “How about the cell compliance?”
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
