jollity

[jol-i-tee]

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noun, plural jol·li·ties.

jolly or merry mood, condition, or activity; gaiety.
jollities, jolly festivities.

Origin of jollity

1250–1300; Middle English jolite < Old French, equivalent to joli(f) gay (see jolly) + -te -ty²

Synonyms for jollity

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1. See mirth.

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

Related Words for jollity

festivity, merriment, merrymaking, revel, glee, cheer, jocundity, gaiety, joviality, revelry, fun, mirth, frolic, hilarity, whoopee

Examples from the Web for jollity

Contemporary Examples of jollity

Yet jollity and gloom are still at war in our censorious age.
A History of American Fun
Stefan Beck
February 9, 2014
Jollity and gloom were contending for an empire,” wrote Nathaniel Hawthorne in his story “The May-Pole of Merry Mount.
A History of American Fun
Stefan Beck
February 9, 2014

Historical Examples of jollity

O the music, the lightness, the jollity of the zarzuelas of my father's time!
Rosinante to the Road Again
John Dos Passos
The seriousness of age takes the place of the jollity of youth.
Laws
Plato
The general taste is for jollity, bright colour, cheerful music.
Recollections
David Christie Murray
He was in a mood of jollity, and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile.
A Pair of Blue Eyes
Thomas Hardy
When this period of jollity is ended, the freshman must declare his views.
Oxford
Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for jollity

jollity

noun plural -ties

the condition of being jolly

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 jollity

c.1300, jolyfte, iolite, from Old French jolivete "gaity, cheerfulness; amorous passion; life of pleasure," from jolif (see jolly).