blitheness
adjective, blith·er, blith·est.
1.
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
before 1000; Middle English; Old English blīthe; cognate with Old Norse blīthr, Old High German blīdi, Gothic bleiths
Related forms
blithe·ful, adjective
blithe·ful·ly, adverb
blithe·ly, adverb
blithe·ness, noun
o·ver·blithe, adjective
Synonyms
1. happy, mirthful, sprightly, light-hearted, buoyant, joyful, blithesome.
1. happy, mirthful, sprightly, light-hearted, buoyant, joyful, blithesome.
Antonyms
1. joyless.
1. joyless.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To blitheness
00:10
Blitheness
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
blithe (blaɪð) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | very happy or cheerful |
| 2. | heedless; casual and indifferent |
| [Old English blīthe] | |
| 'blithely | |
| —adv | |
| 'blitheness | |
| —n | |
| 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
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
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
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]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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