Standard Lemma guide

alacrity

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: ə-lă'crĭ-tē
  • UK: /əˈlakrᵻti/
  • /əˈlæk.rə.ti/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 L AE1 K R AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Eagerness; liveliness; enthusiasm.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: avidity, eagerness, enthusiasm, willingness

Antonyms: apathy, disinclination, hesitance, indifference, reluctance

2

noun

Meaning 2

Promptness; speed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: briskness, celerity, haste, promptness, quickness, swiftness

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

liveliness and eagerness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he accepted with alacrity
  • the smartness of the pace soon exhausted him

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: briskness, smartness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: liveliness, life, spirit, sprightliness

History

Etymology

Mid-15th century; from Middle English alacrite, from Latin alacritās, from alacer (“brisk”) + -itās (“-ity”).

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: պատրաստակամություն (patrastakamutʻyun) — eagerness
  • Armenian: աշխուժություն (ašxužutʻyun) — eagerness
  • Bulgarian: готовност (gotovnost) — eagerness
  • Bulgarian: усърдие (usǎrdie) — eagerness
  • Czech: čilost — eagerness
  • Dutch: bereidwilligheid — eagerness
  • Finnish: into — eagerness
  • French: alacrité — eagerness
  • French: empressement — eagerness
  • Galician: alacridade — eagerness
  • German: Eifer — eagerness
  • Interlingua: alacritate — eagerness
  • Italian: alacrità — eagerness
  • Italian: solerzia — eagerness
  • Latin: alacritās — eagerness
  • Manx: arryltid — eagerness
  • Manx: arryltys — eagerness
  • Manx: laueys — eagerness
  • Norwegian Bokmål: iver — eagerness
  • Norwegian Bokmål: entusiasme — eagerness
  • Polish: skwapliwość — eagerness
  • Polish: żwawość — eagerness
  • Polish: ochoczość — eagerness
  • Portuguese: alacridade — eagerness
  • Portuguese: alegria — eagerness
  • Portuguese: ânimo — eagerness
  • Russian: гото́вность (gotóvnostʹ) — eagerness
  • Russian: жи́вость (žívostʹ) — eagerness
  • Russian: рве́ние (rvénije) — eagerness
  • Scottish Gaelic: sunnd — eagerness
  • Scottish Gaelic: sùrd — eagerness
  • Spanish: esmero — eagerness
  • Spanish: alacridad — eagerness
  • Tamil: ஆர்வம் (ārvam) — eagerness
  • Thai: ความกระตือรือร้น (kwaam-grà-dtʉʉ-rʉʉ-rón) — eagerness
  • Bulgarian: живост (živost) — promptness
  • Bulgarian: пъргавост (pǎrgavost) — promptness
  • Czech: hbitost — promptness
  • Dutch: vlugheid — promptness
  • Finnish: ripeys — promptness
  • French: rapidité — promptness
  • Galician: alacridade — promptness
  • German: Unverzüglichkeit — promptness
  • Polish: szybkość — promptness
  • Polish: pośpiech — promptness
  • Russian: расторо́пность (rastorópnostʹ) — promptness
  • Russian: прово́рство (provórstvo) — promptness
  • Scottish Gaelic: sgiobaltachd — promptness
  • Spanish: alacridad — promptness
  • Spanish: presteza — promptness
  • Spanish: prontitud — promptness