jollity

[ jol-i-tee ]

noun

, plural jol·li·ties.

1. jolly or merry mood, condition, or activity; gaiety.
2. jollities, jolly festivities.

jollity

/ ˈdʒɒlɪtɪ /

noun

1. the condition of being jolly

Word History and Origins

Origin of jollity¹

1250–1300; Middle English jolite, from Old French, equivalent to joli(f) “gay” ( jolly ) + -te -ty ²

Synonym Study

See mirth.

Example Sentences

The result produced the forced jollity of a room in which the audience is strenuously urged to “sing along now!”

From Seattle Times

Both are also generally spared the over-emphatic jollity that Dehnert has evidently encouraged as a way of plowing through difficult passages of dialogue and forcing the weird jokes to bloom.

From New York Times

Nothing goes quite as planned, and Silvio’s irrepressible jollity is no match for the tides and crosscurrents of postwar Italy.

From New York Times

And the bonding agent that incites all this frankly ferocious jollity is a great big CG crocodile answering to the name of Lyle who lives in the attic of that brownstone.

From Seattle Times

But there’s an unhinged jollity to it, too.

From New York Times