noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of alacrity
First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin alacritāt-, stem of alacritās “enthusiasm, zeal,” equivalent to alacer + -tās- noun suffix ( see -ty 2)
Explanation
Someone with alacrity shows cheerful willingness and eager behavior, like a kid whose mother has told him he can buy anything in a candy store. While the noun alacrity normally refers to someone's peppy behavior, it can also describe a certain mood or tempo of a musical composition, indicating how the music should be played. Alacrity comes from the Latin alacritas, and the Italian musical term allegro is a near relation.
Vocabulary lists containing alacrity
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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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.
The energy crisis "certainly gives everyone another reason why they should act with alacrity", the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
What is helping them meet these deadlines is the industry's alacrity in embracing generative AI.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
If you’re planning to travel with children and parents this holiday season, may the grace of whatever god you believe in descend upon you with alacrity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
So the federal government went to work pursuing ELF members with alacrity, heaping sentence-lengthening terrorism enhancements on members to the point that, by 2006, the group basically ceased to exist.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2025
“No,” said Henry and Francis, one on top of the other, with an alacrity that surprised me.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
