Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Subscribe

Archives



Oct 21, 2016
This week’s theme
Words that appear to be coined after someone (but aren’t)

This week’s words
ruminate
bushwa
obambulate
trumpery
hilarity

“Words are the small change of thought.” ~Jules Renard
Send some to friends & family
Bookmark and Share Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Bookmark and Share
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

hilarity

PRONUNCIATION:
(hi-LAYR-i-tee)

MEANING:
noun: Cheerfulness; merriment.

ETYMOLOGY:
From French hilarité (hilarity), from Latin hilaris (cheerful), from Greek hilaros (cheerful). Earliest documented use: 1568.

USAGE:
“A merry school of porpoises, a square mile of them, suddenly appear, tossing themselves into the air in abounding strength and hilarity.”
John Muir; Travels in Alaska; Houghton Mifflin; 1915.

See more usage examples of hilarity in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If you would stand well with a great mind, leave him with a favorable impression of yourself; if with a little mind, leave him with a favorable impression of himself. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet, and philosopher (21 Oct 1772-1834)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith