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Synonyms

jocularity

American  
[jok-yuh-lar-i-tee] / ˌdʒɒk jəˈlær ɪ ti /

noun

  • jocularities
    plural
  1. the state or quality of being jocular.

  2. jocular speech or behavior.

  3. a jocular remark or act.


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of jocularity

First recorded in 1640–50; jocular + -ity


Explanation

A state of cheer or good humor is jocularity. It takes a certain amount of jocularity to tell a really good joke. Someone who has the quality of jocularity is playfully funny — a jokester or clown is known for his jocularity. A teacher's jocularity can transform a boring history class into something fun. Jocularity, the adjective jocular, and joke all stem from a common Latin root, iocus, or "joke."

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Vocabulary lists containing jocularity

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:

David Zinn’s scenic design adopts a puppet theater jocularity and Andrea Hood’s storybook costumes are as vivid as a box of Colorforms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024

His attempts at jocularity had been thoughtless and misguided but not malevolent, his lawyer said, in a submission to the panel.

From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2023

For all its burlesque jocularity, Mr. Scott asserted, his job was no less taxing as a result.

From New York Times ● Sep. 4, 2021

What kept Mr. Jacomo in that place of honor, far more than his jocularity, was his competence and ability to adjust — profitably — when even the best-laid plans went awry.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2020

“Certainly,” he said with a jocularity that I saw as false but was probably convincing for the others.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Then there was a banquet, at which Teacher Scopes stammered a few embarrassed words and the important lawyers indulged in brilliant jocularities.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ireland has been prolific in delineators of her suffering and crimes, jocularities and bulls, both in poetry and prose.

From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Henry B. Stanton

Normanby, still smarting from the attacks of Brougham, was made the mark for these jocularities, after his health being drunk thus: ‘Lord Normanby and the liberation of the Prisoners.’

From The Greville Memoirs (Second Part) A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1852 (Volume 1 of 3) by Charles Greville

Ballad: The Played-Out Humorist Quixotic is his enterprise, and hopeless his adventure is, Who seeks for jocularities that haven't yet been said.

From Songs of a Savoyard by Sir W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert

Not that the jocularities were inane beyond the usual, but failure made them seem so.

From The Pretty Lady by Arnold Bennett

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