levity
Americannoun
plural
levities-
lightness of mind, character, or behavior; lack of appropriate seriousness or earnestness.
- Synonyms:
- giddiness, triviality, flippancy, frivolity
-
an instance or exhibition of this.
- Synonyms:
- giddiness, triviality, flippancy, frivolity
-
lightness in weight.
noun
-
inappropriate lack of seriousness
-
fickleness or instability
-
archaic lightness in weight
Etymology
Origin of levity
1555–65; < Latin levitās lightness, frivolity, equivalent to levi ( s ) light + -tās -ty 2
Explanation
Joking that your dead grandmother "never looked better" could inject some levity, or frivolity, into her funeral, but your relatives might find your joke inappropriate to the occasion. Levity literally means "lightness," and it's often an attempt to inject some lightness or humor into an otherwise somber situation. Telling your Aunt Edna a joke while she recuperates from a skiing accident could provide the levity needed to brighten her mood. Yet levity is often used to describe humor that's not appropriate to the occasion, like telling jokes during a funeral.
Vocabulary lists containing levity
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Grade 12, List 1
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The Hunger Games
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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.
Long before Marmel was a founding partner of Levity Live, and an absolute giant in the comedy industry, she was mastering the art of sales in Girl Scouts.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2024
Producer and aerialist Katie Herndon, from Levity Arts, wanted to create a collaborative space where people could come together and be inspired.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 24, 2023
He and his partner, Mark Lonow, sold their company in 2018 to Levity Entertainment, which later grew the number of Improv clubs to 25.
From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2022
Levity can be an important tool amid such upheaval, the effects of which can be deeply unhealthy.
From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2022
Levity, inattention, and self-complacency are obstacles harder to be overcome than the violence of evil passions—the transition from hate is easier than from indifference, to love.
From J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 4 by Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan
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.
