joviality
Americannoun
Synonym Usage
See mirth.
Etymology
Origin of joviality
First recorded in 1620–30; jovial + -ity; compare French jovialité
Explanation
Joviality is the characteristic of being cheerful and festive. If you're feeling a little blue, the joviality of a big family dinner might cheer you up. If you have the world's best Spanish teacher, she won't mind the joviality in the classroom on a Friday afternoon — as long as everyone is laughing and joking in Spanish! This noun evokes a sense of lightheartedness and goodwill, like the most fun and welcoming social event you can imagine. It comes from the adjective jovial, originally "pertaining to Jupiter." The cheerful implications come from astrology and the idea that people born under Jupiter's influence are jolly.
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.
Amid the banter and joviality, the message from the Red Roses was clear: they want to inspire the next generation.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2025
The bright, colorful animations — arguments and fights are in surreal landscapes — add a sense of joviality to the proceedings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2023
One Christmas obligation is to bring tidings of comfort to those who, because they are suffering, find the obligatory joviality of the season off-putting and depressing.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022
Both Portman and Hemsworth bring a lighthearted joviality to Love and Thunder that works well in moments when the movie’s highlighting the emotional connection that first brought Thor and Jane together.
From The Verge ● Jul. 5, 2022
In this, the atmosphere, no matter how coarse, has a verve and an essential joviality that casts out morbidity.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
