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.
Fans of the hirsute sourpuss seek him out for his in-your-face edge — the opposite of Santa’s remote joviality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2025
A classmate at the time said she had turned the school "in completely the opposite direction" during the election, using her "personality, joviality and optimism".
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 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
The joviality didn’t last long — or, rather, it flipped back and forth between dancers driving across the floor to more introspective moments for Marcellus, whose rich, layered vocalizations filled the theater.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
Gebu’s joviality lasted for several days, and as was usual during these periods, Ranofer fared better as to food.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
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.
