noun
Other Word Forms
- alacritous adjective
- unalacritous adjective
Etymology
Origin of alacrity
First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin alacritāt-, stem of alacritās “enthusiasm, zeal,” equivalent to alacer + -tās- noun suffix ( -ty 2 )
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.
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
He has accomplished great things in his time as president, and the First Lady and Secretary Becerra both spoke within the last week about his efforts which have come with great alacrity.
From Salon • Dec. 17, 2023
The saw gave forth a single sluggish twang that ceased with lifeless alacrity, leaving the blade in a thin clean curve between Luster’s hand and the floor.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
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.
