gaiety

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡeɪ.ə.ti/, /ˈɡeɪ.ɪ.ti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: gai‧e‧ty
• Rhymes: -eɪɪti

gaiety (countable and uncountable, plural gaieties)

1. (dated, uncountable) The state of being happy or merry.

   There was much gaiety at the ball.

   The decorations added greatly to the gaiety of the room.

   • 1822 May 21, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Love Charms”, in Bracebridge Hall, or The Humourists. A Medley. , volume I, New York, N.Y.: C. S. Van Winkle, , →OCLC, page 218:

     During the present gayety of the house, however, the poor girl has gone about with a face full of trouble, and to use the housekeeper's words, "has fallen into a sad hystericky way lately."

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Dangerous Lady”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 36:

     Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.

2. (dated, countable) Merrymaking or festivity.
   • 1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “How an Evening Passes at the Elms, and Dr. Toole Makes a Little Excursion; and Two Choice Spirits Discourse, and Hebe Trips In with the Nectar”, in The House by the Church-yard. , volume II, London: Tinsley, Brothers, , →OCLC, pages 275–276:

     And he would tell her all sorts of wonders, old-world gaieties, long before she was born; and how finely the great Mr. [George Frideric] Handel played upon the harpischord in the Music Hall, and how his talk was in German, Latin, French, English, Italian, and half-a-dozen languages beside, […]

• Gaiety is not used to refer to sexual orientation, the word for which is gayness. Despite this, gaiety has largely fallen out of use due to the adjective gay's semantic shift in that direction.

• (state of being happy): gayness