jovial

[ joh-vee-uhl ]

See synonyms for: jovial jovially on Thesaurus.com

adjective

endowed with or characterized by a hearty, joyous humor or a spirit of good-fellowship: a wonderfully jovial host.
(initial capital letter) of or relating to the god Jove, or Jupiter.

Origin of jovial

First recorded in 1580–90; from Medieval Latin joviālis “of Jupiter” (the planet, supposed to exert a happy influence), equivalent to Latin jovi- (see Jovian) + -ālis -al¹

synonym study For jovial

1. Jovial, jocose, jocular, jocund agree in referring to someone who is in a good humor. Jovial suggests a hearty, joyous humor: a jovial person. Jocose refers to that which causes laughter; it suggests someone who is playful and given to jesting: with jocose and comical airs. Jocular means humorous, facetious, mirthful, and waggish: jocular enough to keep up the spirits of all around him. Jocund, now a literary word, suggests a cheerful, light-hearted, and sprightly gaiety: glad and jocund company.

Other words for jovial

1	merry, jolly, convivial, gay, joyful, mirthful

See synonyms for jovial on Thesaurus.com

Opposites for jovial

gloomy

See antonyms for jovial on Thesaurus.com

Other words from jovial

jo·vi·al·ly, adverb
jo·vi·al·ness, noun
un·jo·vi·al, adjective
un·jo·vi·al·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with jovial

jocose, jocular, jocund, jovial (see synonym study at the current entry)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use jovial in a sentence

He is of course joking, but this is not obvious, because even when Mitch is in a jovial mood he looks like a man passing a kidney stone the size of the Hope Diamond.
Dave Barry’s Year in Review 2020 | Dave Barry | December 27, 2020 | Washington Post
The men chattered jovially but quickly turned sour when asked about the civilian implications of their rudimentary weaponry.
Inside the Free Syrian Army’s ‘Candy Factories,’ the Secret Rebel Arms Workshops | Anna Therese Day | October 23, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
"I'll tell you what I think," said Buck, getting up jovially.
The Napoleon of Notting Hill | Gilbert K. Chesterton
As a writer jovially remarked, "It is a gilt-edged real estate investment."
The Blue and The Gray | A. R. White
Whereupon he would exert himself with renewed diligence in her garden, which he jovially called "hoeing Aunt Rosalie's will."
The Surprises of Life | Georges Clemenceau

It was his familiar flourish, an old story to Bibbs, and now jovially declaimed for the edification of Mary Vertrees.
The Turmoil | Booth Tarkington
My wife will be some surprised, I bet, and he laughed jovially.
Ruth Fielding At Sunrise Farm | Alice B. Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for jovial

jovial

/ (ˈdʒəʊvɪəl) /

adjective

having or expressing convivial humour; jolly

Origin of jovial

C16: from Latin joviālis of (the planet) Jupiter, considered by astrologers to foster good humour

Derived forms of jovial

joviality or jovialness, noun
jovially, adverb

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

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