blithe

blithe
blithe (adj.) O.E. bliþe "joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant," from P.Gmc. *blithiz "gentle, kind" (Cf. O.S. bliði "bright, happy," M.Du. blide, Du. blijde, O.N. bliðr "mild, gentle," O.H.G. blidi "gay, friendly," Goth. bleiþs "kind, friendly, merciful"). Rare since 16c. No cognates outside Germanic. "The earlier application was to the outward expression of kindly feeling, sympathy, affection to others, as in Gothic and ON.; but in OE. the word had come more usually to be applied to the external manifestation of one's own pleased or happy frame of mind, and hence even to the state itself." [OED]

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  • Blithe — (bl[imac][th]), a. [AS. bl[=i][eth]e blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei[thorn]s kind, Icel. bl[=i][eth]r mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. bl[=i]di kind, blithe.] Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • blithe — blithe·ful; blithe·ly; blithe·meat; blithe·ness; blithe·some; blithe; blithe·ful·ly; blithe·some·ly; …   English syllables

  • blithe´ly — blithe «blyTH, blyth», adjective. 1. happy and cheerful; gay: »Hail to thee, blithe spirit! Bird thou never wert (Shelley). SYNONYM(S): joyous, merry, glad, pleased. 2. heedless. ╂[Old English blīthe joyous] – …   Useful english dictionary

  • Blithe — may refer to:* Albert Blithe (1923 1967), career soldier in the United States Army * Blithe (comics), a fictional character from DC Comicsee also* Blithe Spirit (disambiguation) …   Wikipedia

  • blithe — [blaıð US blaıð, blaıθ] adj [: Old English;] 1.) seeming not to care or worry about the effects of what you do ▪ a blithe disregard for the facts 2.) literary happy and having no worries >blithely adv ▪ He seems blithely unaware of how much… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • blithe — [ blaıð ] adjective 1. ) LITERARY happy and not worried about anything 2. ) ignoring or not realizing the real disadvantages of a situation or the possible bad results of something you do …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • blithe — jocund, *merry, jovial, jolly Analogous words: gay, *lively, animated, vivacious, sprightly: joyful, joyous, lighthearted, *glad, happy, cheerful: buoyant, effervescent, volatile (see ELASTIC) Antonyms: morose: atrabilious Contrasted words: sad,… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • blithe — [adj] happy animated, buoyant, carefree, cheerful, cheery, chirpy, gay, gladsome, gleeful, jaunty, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, lighthearted, merry, mirthful, sprightly, sunny, vivacious; concept 404 Ant. heavyhearted, morose, sad, sorrowful,… …   New thesaurus

  • blithe — ► ADJECTIVE 1) cheerfully or thoughtlessly indifferent. 2) literary happy or joyous. DERIVATIVES blithely adverb blitheness noun. ORIGIN Old English, related to BLISS(Cf. ↑bliss) …   English terms dictionary

  • blithe — [blīth, blīth] adj. [ME < OE; ult. < IE base * bhlei , to shine, gleam] showing a cheerful, carefree disposition; lighthearted blithely adv. blitheness n …   English World dictionary

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