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
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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.
See Examples For:
Mr. Hilton has a blithe British manner and jokes about his un-Californian accent: “I have trouble saying ‘water’ in a way that people understand.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 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
In one blithe sentence, Shafik assumes into legitimacy the major institutions of liberal modernity and declares them partners in a cooperative project, without inquiring into whether or how these institutions might be democratically justified.
From Slate ● May 9, 2024
“Supper? At Old Chao’s house? Sure,” he said, blithe as a new frog.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
What kind of toxic passive-aggressive blither is that?
From Time ● Mar. 1, 2014
As for his poetic effusions and snatches of writing, they are mostly fey blither.
From Time Magazine Archive
Lady Mary is, blithe and blither, on her way.
From Time Magazine Archive
The violins ringing; Not blither the singing Of birds in the woods and the meadows.
From Strife and Peace by Mary (Mary Botham) Howitt
He is blither and at the same time he is more solemnly abstracted.
From The Prairie Child by Ward. E. F. (Edmund Franklin)
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
Beneath her, open graves, Daily--daily, The blithest to entomb.
From The Smuggler: (Vol's I-III) A Tale by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
