felicity

¹ American  

[fi-lis-i-tee] / fɪˈlɪs ɪ ti /

noun

plural

felicities

1. the state of being happy, especially in a high degree; bliss.

   marital felicity.

2. an instance of this.

3. a source of happiness.

4. a skillful faculty.

   felicity of expression.

5. an instance or display of this.

   the many felicities of the poem.

6. Archaic. good fortune.

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Felicity ² American  

[fi-lis-i-tee] / fɪˈlɪs ɪ ti /

Also Felicita

noun

1. a female given name, form of Felicia.

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felicity British  

/ fɪˈlɪsɪtɪ /

noun

1. happiness; joy

2. a cause of happiness

3. an appropriate expression or style

4. the quality or display of such expressions or style

5. philosophy appropriateness (of a speech act). The performative I appoint you ambassador can only possess felicity if uttered by one in whom the authority for such appointments is vested

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Related Words

See happiness.

Other Word Forms

• nonfelicity noun

Etymology

Origin of felicity

1350–1400; Middle English felicite (from Anglo-French ) from Latin fēlīcitās, equivalent to fēlīci- (stem of fēlīx ) “happy” + -tās -ty ²

Explanation

Felicity is a state of happiness or the quality of joy. Sitting on the roof with a telescope and iced tea on a clear, starry night is one way to find perfect felicity — a happy place. Felicity comes from the Latin fēlīcitās, meaning "happiness." A synonym for felicity is "blissfulness." People, places, and things can have felicity: "His personality was so warm and full of felicity that we felt at ease the minute we met him." Or you can be in a state of felicity: "A full stomach, a fluffy couch, and the felicity of a Sunday-afternoon nap."

Example Sentences

Serenity, personal growth and felicity may not be seductive topics for a contemporary R&B record.

From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2022

Rogoyska’s “Surviving Katyń: Stalin’s Polish Massacre and the Search for Truth” won the $10,000 Mark Lynton History Prize for combining “intellectual distinction with felicity of expression.”

From Seattle Times • Mar. 23, 2022

Neglecting to explore this gives the viewer little reason to witness that struggle beyond the lesson of it; there must be, should be, the counterbalancing representation of felicity, and in large doses.

From Salon • Dec. 16, 2020

As Anne Enright noted years ago, “Hadley, for all the felicity of her prose style, is an immensely subversive writer.”

From The Guardian • Feb. 9, 2019

In their zeal to purify usage and safeguard the language, they have made it difficult to think clearly about felicity in expression and have muddied the task of explaining the art of writing.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker