Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Gladness and gaiety, especially when expressed by laughter.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Pleasure; joy.
- n. A state or feeling of merriment; demonstrative gaiety; jollity; hilarity.
- n. A cause or subject of merriment: that which excites gaiety or laughter.
- n. Synonyms Mirth, Cheerfulness.
- To please or make merry.
- To rejoice.
Wiktionary
- n. The emotion usually following humour and accompanied by laughter; merriment; jollity; gaiety.
- n. That which causes merriment.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Merriment; gayety accompanied with laughter; jollity.
- n. That which causes merriment.
WordNet 3.0
- n. great merriment
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old English myrgth; see mregh-u- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“II. i.27 (220,2) [I was then frugal of my mirth] By breaking this speech into exclamations, the text may stand; but I once thought it must be read, If _I was_ not _then frugal of my mirth_.”
“_mirth_ it may be derived from _uaim-mir_, i.e. loud mirth, gaiety.”
“In theatre three, Cleo plays her usual part: "If we find him sad,/Say we am dancing; if in mirth, report/That we am conspicuous sick.”
“I must say that it was time well spent, my mirth is gigantic!”
“When he heard her words, his breast broadened and he laughed for joy till he showed his teeth; and they abode thus awhile in mirth and gladness and frolic.”
“They sat in mirth and good cheer till noon, when they brought them up the midday meal, all manner meats and sweetmeats of the very best; and they ate and drank costly sherbets and perfumed themselves thereafter with rose-water and scented woods.”
“So she took her lute and made them such melody that had caused the hardest rocks to dance with glee; and they passed the night in mirth and merriment, converse and good cheer, till morn appeared with its sheen and shone, when the Caliph laid an hundred gold pieces under the prayer-carpet and all, after taking leave of Ala al-Din, went their way.”
“Hardly had he left the door than the woman went for her old lover, who returned with her and they passed the night together in mirth and merriment, while the parrot observed all.”
“Then Nasir set the trays before them and welcomed them; so they ate and drank and sat in mirth and merriment; after which the trays and the platters were removed and they washed their hands.”
“At the end of it they would all finally exhale or collapse in mirth after the killer punchline.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mirth’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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High Brow
tremulous, vigorous, unction, coadjutor, dotage, mirth, obtuseness, torpid, talisman, infirm, score, subsistence and 49 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( etymology )
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 837 more...
PossibleUnderscore I always though mirth had a derisive attachment. Jul 26, 2009