blithe
[blahyth, blahyth]
adjective, blith·er, blith·est.
joyous, merry, or happy in disposition; glad; cheerful: Everyone loved her for her blithe spirit.
without thought or regard; carefree; heedless: a blithe indifference to anyone's feelings.
RELATED WORDS
sprightly, jaunty, jovial, carefree, lighthearted, animated, buoyant, cheerful, cheery, gay, gleeful, jocund, jolly, joyful, merry, mirthful, sunny, vivacious, chirpy, gladsome
Nearby words
- blistering,
- blisteringly,
- blistery,
- blit,
- blite,
- blither,
- blithering,
- blithesome,
- blithesomely,
- blitt
Origin of blithe
before 1000; Middle English; Old English blīthe; cognate with Old Norse blīthr, Old High German blīdi, Gothic bleiths
SYNONYMS FOR blithe
Blithe
[blahyth, blahyth]
noun
Blythe
or Blithe
[blahyth, blahyth]
noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for blithe
blithe
adjective
Word Origin for blithe
Old English blīthe
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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blithe
Old English bliþe "joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant," from Proto-Germanic *blithiz "gentle, kind" (cf. Old Saxon bliði "bright, happy," Middle Dutch blide, Dutch blijde, Old Norse bliðr "mild, gentle," Old High German blidi "gay, friendly," Gothic bleiþs "kind, friendly, merciful").
Rare since 16c. No cognates outside Germanic. "The earlier application was to the outward expression of kindly feeling, sympathy, affection to others, as in Gothic and ON.; but in OE. the word had come more usually to be applied to the external manifestation of one's own pleased or happy frame of mind, and hence even to the state itself." [OED]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper