buoyant
[boi-uh nt, boo-yuh nt]
- tending to float in a fluid.
- capable of keeping a body afloat, as a liquid.
- not easily depressed; cheerful.
- cheering or invigorating.
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Origin of buoyant
Synonyms
See more synonyms for buoyant on Thesaurus.com3. happy, lighthearted, breezy, jaunty, sunny.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for buoyant
Contemporary Examples
It was in this buoyant baby boom atmosphere that my parents grew up.
Seeger showed Springsteen that political music could be buoyant, even as it dealt with the weightiest issues.
The stock market has been buoyant, and interest rates have been rising in part because of expectations of higher economic growth.
The little girl who had once stood there with a bouquet was out in California, a buoyant and youthful 66 years old.
What is less convincing is her buoyant optimism about our odds of survival.
Historical Examples
I breathed freely, and my form seemed to expand itself with buoyant life.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
Light and buoyant as the child was, her tightened clasp had begun to tell on him.
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
It was difficult to remain long angry with so buoyant a nature.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
Hydrogen is the lightest and consequently the most buoyant of all known gases.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
Nor, as the days went by, did this buoyant happiness ever fail him.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
buoyant
- able to float in or rise to the surface of a liquid
- (of a liquid or gas) able to keep a body afloat or cause it to rise
- cheerful or resilient
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Word Origin
C16: probably from Spanish boyante, from boyar to float, from boya buoy, ultimately of Germanic origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for buoyant
adj.
1570s, perhaps from Spanish boyante, present participle of boyar "to float," from boya "buoy," from Dutch boei (see buoy (n.)). Of personalities, etc., from c.1748. Related: Buoyantly.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper