riant
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of riant
First recorded in 1560–70; from French, “smiling, laughing,” adjective use of present participle of rire “to laugh,” from Latin rīdēre; see rident ( def. ), -ant
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.
With its light and elegant fabric, its pretty fountain, its archway of the Renaissance, and fragments of sculpture, you can hardly see, on a fine day, a place more riant and pleasing.
From The Paris Sketch Book by William Makepeace Thackeray
She sauntered on in an arch and riant humor.
From What Will People Say? A novel by Rupert Hughes
From such deep-down elements sprout up, in very contrast and paradox, those riant utterances of which a superficial reading will not detect the hidden foundation.
From Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy by Walt Whitman
Her hair was the real classic gold, and her grey eyes were riant with health and content.
From Hoosier Mosaics by Maurice Thompson
He observes all human traits, whether of moral sophistry or ethical casuistry, with the genial sympathy of a lover of his kind irradiated with the riant comprehension of the humorist.
From Mark Twain by Archibald Henderson
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.
