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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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 hybrid’s demeanor is more citified, answering throttle demand with an electric-enhanced alacrity and seizing every opportunity to go quiet and save energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
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
They’re both walking encyclopedias of the genre, able to reel off titles of films, popular and obscure, with the alacrity of true aficionados.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2024
I should perhaps have found gratifying a little more polite resistance to my observation, but he offered no feint; he denied not her favor and accepted his lot with alacrity.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
