gaiety
Americannoun
plural
gaieties-
the state of being joyous, vivacious, or cheerful.
- Synonyms:
- joviality, cheerfulness, vivacity, hilarity, sportiveness, liveliness, joyousness, jollity, glee, mirth, merriment
- Antonyms:
- sadness
-
Often gaieties. merrymaking or festivity.
the gaieties of the New Year season.
-
gaiety of dress.
- Synonyms:
- gaudiness, flashiness, glitter, brilliance
noun
-
the state or condition of being merry, bright, or lively
-
festivity; merrymaking
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gaiety
Explanation
A festive, happy event, like a big summer backyard party, will be full of gaiety — or merriment and playfulness. The noun gaiety is the feeling of happiness and delight that might be present at a child's birthday party or a festive square dance. Gaiety can describe a person's generally joyful personality, or the sound of laughter in your house. It comes from the French word gaieté, "joy, merriment, lightheartedness," which evolved from gai, "charming, joyful, happy." The word can be correctly spelled gaiety or gayety, although the first spelling is much more common.
Vocabulary lists containing gaiety
Words for the International Day of Happiness
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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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.
“Cavalcade,” first seen Thursday night at the Gaiety Theater, is the greatest picture Fox has ever made and many believe it to be the finest achievement of the talking film.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2023
The show premiered in January at the Gaiety Theater in Dublin and will continue from Sept. 7 to Sept. 16 in London’s Apollo Theater before it begins 75 performances in New York.
From New York Times • Aug. 30, 2022
Live Nation, which has refused to comment, moved to take up a controlling stake of the festival through LN-Gaiety - its UK joint venture with music mogul Denis Desmond's Gaiety Investments.
From BBC • Apr. 26, 2017
Farrell went on to train at the country’s Gaiety School of Acting before landing his breakout role in Joel Schumacher’s 2000 film “Tigerland,” shortly after which Vanity Fair anointed him “the Irish Brad Pitt.”
From Seattle Times • Feb. 14, 2014
Gaiety, which had been spontaneous before, seemed to have become an effort to both of them, and for some little time neither appeared to care to accept the invitations showered upon them as usual.
From Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing by Page, Gertrude
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.
