Nearby Words

blitheness

[blahyth, blahyth] Origin

blithe

[blahyth, blahyth]
adjective, blith·er, blith·est.
1.
joyous, merry, or gay in disposition; glad; cheerful: Everyone loved her for her blithe spirit.
2.
without thought or regard; carefree; heedless: a blithe indifference to anyone's feelings.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English; Old English blīthe; cognate with Old Norse blīthr, Old High German blīdi, Gothic bleiths

blithe·ful, adjective
blithe·ful·ly, adverb
blithe·ly, adverb
blithe·ness, noun
o·ver·blithe, adjective


1. happy, mirthful, sprightly, light-hearted, buoyant, joyful, blithesome.


1. joyless.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Blitheness is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Collins
World English Dictionary
blithe (blaɪð)
 
adj
1.  very happy or cheerful
2.  heedless; casual and indifferent
 
[Old English blīthe]
 
'blithely
 
adv
 
'blitheness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

blithe
O.E. bliþe "joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant," from P.Gmc. *blithiz "gentle, kind" (cf. O.S. bliði "bright, happy," O.N. bliðr "mild, gentle," O.H.G. blidi "gay, friendly," Goth. bleiþs "kind, friendly, merciful"). Rare since 16c. No cognates outside Gmc. "The earlier application
EXPAND
was to the outward expression of kindly feeling, sympathy, affection to others, as in Gothic and ON.; but in OE. the word had come more usually to be applied to the external manifestation of one's own pleased or happy frame of mind, and hence even to the state itself." [OED]
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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