buoyant

adjective

buoy·​ant ˈbȯi-ənt How to pronounce buoyant (audio)
ˈbü-yənt
: having buoyancy
Warm air is more buoyant than cool air.
: such as
a
: capable of floating
Cork is naturally buoyant.
b
: cheerful, gay
in a buoyant mood
c
: capable of maintaining a satisfactorily high level
a buoyant economy
buoyantly adverb

Examples of buoyant in a Sentence

Warm air is more buoyant than cool air. The actors were buoyant as they prepared for the evening's performance.
Recent Examples on the Web But surely Mandy must have spent some time, during that night, gazing at the dim square of the bedroom skylight and thinking about the girl sleeping on the fold-out, who had been so unabashed about changing that Mandy had seen her young, buoyant breasts. Fiona McFarlane, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 This means that the Tintin franchise — legendary for its combination of nonstop action, mystery, quirky characters and buoyant sense of humor — is officially ready for a major reboot. Ernesto Lechner, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024 Sadly, the track, which is as buoyant and bittersweet as some of the label’s biggest hits, has been, for the most part, forgotten. Melissa Giannini, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2024 Her Bonnie is buoyant and loose, tanned and laughing. Jordan Kisner, The Atlantic, 18 Feb. 2024 Inside, as the crowd spilled down a carpeted staircase into a sunken ballroom, the mood was buoyant—more fan convention than campaign gathering. Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2024 This movie in some ways harkens back to films of one of the golden ages of American cinema, films in the ’70s that were about characters and story and done in ways that probed current trends and interests in society — and in a way that was buoyant. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2024 The Pacers' locker room tends to be buoyant after wins in general because the Pacers are a young group of guys with colorful personalities and a tight bond who are still carrying relatively little pressure after back-to-back years of missing the postseason entirely. Dustin Dopirak, The Indianapolis Star, 19 Jan. 2024 Recorded at home during the early morning, this soft-focus music simmers at a low temperature: acoustic guitar paint brushstrokes beneath buoyant synths that seem dappled in sunlight. Pitchfork, 14 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'buoyant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see buoy entry 1

First Known Use

1578, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of buoyant was in 1578

Dictionary Entries Near buoyant

Cite this Entry

“Buoyant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buoyant. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

buoyant

adjective
buoy·​ant ˈbȯi-ənt How to pronounce buoyant (audio)
ˈbü-yənt
1
: having buoyancy
especially : capable of floating
2
: being in a happy mood : cheerful
buoyantly adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on buoyant

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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