Nearby Words

larkishness

[lahrk] Origin

lark

2[lahrk]
noun
1.
a merry, carefree adventure; frolic; escapade.
2.
innocent or good-natured mischief; a prank.
3.
something extremely easy to accomplish, succeed in, or to obtain: That exam was a lark.
verb (used without object)
4.
to have fun; frolic; romp.
5.
to behave mischievously; play pranks.
6.
Fox Hunting. (of a rider) to take jumps unnecessarily: He tired his horse by larking on the way home.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Larkishness is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

Origin:
1805–15; origin uncertain

lark·er, noun
lark·i·ness, lark·ish·ness, noun
lark·ing·ly, adverb
lark·ish, lark·y, adjective
lark·ish·ly, adverb
EXPAND
lark·some, adjective
COLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To larkishness
Collins
World English Dictionary
lark2 (lɑːk)
 
n
1.  a carefree adventure or frolic
2.  a harmless piece of mischief
3.  what a lark! how amusing!
 
vb
4.  (often foll by about) to have a good time by frolicking
5.  to play a prank
 
[C19: originally slang, perhaps related to laik]
 
'larker2
 
n
 
'larkish2
 
adj
 
'larkishness2
 
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
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

lark
"spree, frolic," 1811, possibly shortening of skylark (1809), sailors' slang "play rough in the rigging of a ship" (larks were proverbial for high-flying), or from Eng. dial. lake/laik "to play" (c.1300, from O.N. leika "to play") with intrusive -r- common in southern British dialect. The verb lake,
EXPAND
considered characteristic of Northern English vocabulary, is the opposite of work but lacks the other meanings of play.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature