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gaiety

or gay·e·ty

[gey-i-tee]
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noun, plural gai·e·ties.
  1. the state of being joyous, vivacious, or cheerful.
  2. Often gaieties. merrymaking or festivity: the gaieties of the New Year season.
  3. showiness; finery: gaiety of dress.
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Origin of gaiety

1625–35; < French gaieté, equivalent to gai gay + -té -ty2
Related formssu·per·gai·e·ty, noun

Synonyms

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1. merriment, mirth, glee, jollity, joyousness, liveliness, sportiveness, hilarity, vivacity, cheerfulness, joviality. 3. brilliance, glitter, flashiness, gaudiness.

Antonyms

1. sadness.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

hilarityradiancecolorbrilliancegladnessreveljovialityrevelrysportglittereffervescenceelationgleeexhilarationlivelinesssparkleanimationlightheartednessfrolicfestivity

Examples from the Web for gaiety

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "Then they'll have to prove it to me," she corrected, her gaiety now a trifle forced.

    Dust

    Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius

  • Lady Glenthorn and her set were dancing, and I was tired of these sounds of gaiety.

  • Indeed she chid Margaret for her lack of gaiety upon such an occasion.

    Fair Margaret

    H. Rider Haggard

  • The place is something like the Gaiety Theatre at Simla, enlarged twenty times.

    American Notes

    Rudyard Kipling

  • There was a large amount of gaiety in the old villages in those days.

    English Villages

    P. H. Ditchfield

British Dictionary definitions for gaiety

gaiety

noun plural -ties
  1. the state or condition of being merry, bright, or lively
  2. festivity; merrymaking
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Also (esp US): gayety

xref

See gay
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gaiety

n.

1630s, from French gaieté, from gai "gay" (see gay). In the 1890s, especially with reference to a London theater of that name, and the kind of musical shows and dancing girls found there.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper