Standard Lemma guide

gaiety

noun · 4 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.

  • /ˈɡeɪ.ə.ti/
  • /ˈɡeɪ.ɪ.ti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪɪti

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being happy or merry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, uncountable

Examples

  • There was much gaiety at the ball.
  • The decorations added greatly to the gaiety of the room.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gayfulness, gayness, blitheness, blithesomeness, cheerfulness, cheeriness, contentness, contentedness, delight, delightedness, elatedness, elation, exuberance, exuberantness, felicity, gaiety, gladness, gladsomeness, glee, gleefulness, gleesomeness, happiness, high spirits, hilarity, jolliness, jollity, joviality, jovialness, joy, joyfulness, joyousness, liss, merriment, merriness, mirth, mirthfulness, pleasedness

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Merrymaking or festivity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a festive merry feeling

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: playfulness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: levity

4

noun

Meaning 4

a gay feeling

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: merriment

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: happiness

Narrower terms: hilarity, mirth, mirthfulness, glee, gleefulness, jocundity, jocularity, jollity, jolliness, joviality

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French gaieté, from gai. By surface analysis, gay + -ety.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: веселост (veselost) — state of being happy
  • Danish: munterhed — state of being happy
  • Esperanto: gajeco — state of being happy
  • Finnish: iloisuus — state of being happy
  • Finnish: ilo — state of being happy
  • Georgian: მხიარულება (mxiaruleba) — state of being happy
  • Georgian: სიმხიარულე (simxiarule) — state of being happy
  • German: Frohsinn — state of being happy
  • German: Glücklichsein — state of being happy
  • Irish: meidhir — state of being happy
  • Italian: gaiezza — state of being happy
  • Japanese: ハピネス (hapinesu) — state of being happy
  • Māori: hiwa — state of being happy
  • Norwegian Bokmål: munterhet — state of being happy
  • Persian: شادمانی (šâdmâni) — state of being happy
  • Russian: весёлость (vesjólostʹ) — state of being happy
  • Spanish: felicidad — state of being happy
  • Spanish: alegría — state of being happy
  • Spanish: regocijo — state of being happy
  • Spanish: júbilo — state of being happy
  • Tagalog: kaligayahan — state of being happy
  • Tagalog: katuwaan — state of being happy
  • Tagalog: kasiyahan — state of being happy
  • Walloon: gaiyté — state of being happy
  • Welsh: hoywdeb — state of being happy