blithe
Americanadjective
adjective
-
very happy or cheerful
-
heedless; casual and indifferent
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of blithe
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English blīthe; cognate with Old Norse blīthr, Old High German blīdi, Gothic bleiths
Explanation
The adjective blithe used to mean happy and carefree, but over time it has also come to describe someone who isn't paying attention the way they should. If you have a blithe disregard for authority, you might just smile vaguely when a teacher is yelling at you and continue writing on the lockers with a Sharpie. If you're dancing to music while driving, and pass blithely through a red light, chances are you will be pulled over and given either a ticket or a lecture.
Vocabulary lists containing blithe
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
A Christmas Carol
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
The blithe and often zany choreography unfolded intriguingly as its asymmetrical configurations—involving four men, three women and three folding chairs—kept the whole theatrical affair deftly off balance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
That may give these companies an extra temporary boost, but consumers might not be so blithe, Malek warns.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
Steppenwolf Theatre co-artistic director Audrey Francis brings a casual grace to her portrayal of Belinda Blair, the blithe peacemaker of the troupe who knows all the company’s secrets and spills them every chance she gets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2025
Online, video edits have proliferated of Lively’s more blithe responses to questions about her character.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2024
Instead, she returned him to his agony with a blithe shrug of her shoulders.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
What kind of toxic passive-aggressive blither is that?
From Time ● Mar. 1, 2014
Lady Mary is, blithe and blither, on her way.
From Time Magazine Archive
As for his poetic effusions and snatches of writing, they are mostly fey blither.
From Time Magazine Archive
The rossignols begin A blither song, where the treacherous spiders spin Their shimmering webs.
From Vacation Verse by MacKeracher, W. M.
And the blither the tune the heavier it seemed to make my heart.
From The Prairie Mother by Becher, Arthur E.
Ms. Bouder, now often so mannered in ballets by George Balanchine, was at her freest and blithest.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2018
If you are late for “Amy,” a new documentary about Amy Winehouse, you will miss her at her blithest.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 1, 2015
Though its social scope is narrower than Hardy’s, you do come away from it with a true sense of the shrouded world that he devised, where fate could frown upon even the blithest day.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 27, 2015
Ted, who had always been the blithest brother, and the least intellectual or introspective, could now be morose at times.
From Time Magazine Archive
He's nae langer the daft Will Mather, wha liked a jump as weel as the blithest swankie o' the barnyard.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 10 by Various
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.
