hilarity
Americannoun
-
cheerfulness; merriment; mirthfulness.
-
boisterous gaiety or merriment.
noun
Related Words
See mirth.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hilarity
1560–70; earlier hilaritie, from Latin hilaritās, equivalent to hilari(s) ( see hilarious) + -tās -ty 2
Explanation
Hilarity is that side-splitting, tear-inducing, laugh-until-you-can't-breathe happiness of a romping good time. There's usually an atmosphere of hilarity just after the ball drops on New Year's Eve. It's that feeling of cheerfulness — hilaritas in Latin — that fills the room when the clock strikes midnight. If your teacher passes out cupcakes and lets you play games instead of reading aloud, she may have a hard time controlling the ensuing hilarity in the classroom.
Vocabulary lists containing hilarity
The London Eye Mystery
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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Bill Parcells' Hall of Fame Induction Speech
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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.
Hilarity crescendos as wordplay plummets, until Chester realizes we all have bad days.
From New York Times • Mar. 30, 2022
Hilarity is guaranteed to ensue because . . . look who's making it.
From Salon • Oct. 31, 2021
Hilarity ensues in the docuseries “History of the Sitcom.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2021
Hilarity ensues and they somehow manage to concede a throw-in.
From The Guardian • Jun. 27, 2020
If he'd tried to stop my allowance, I should have gone on the stage—we've settled that point once and for all with Harry Manders, half-way through the stage-door of the Hilarity.
From The Education of Eric Lane by McKenna, Stephen
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.
