alacrity
noun
Did you know?
Alacrity Predates Shakespeare
"I have not that alacrity of spirit / Nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have," says William Shakespeare's King Richard III in the play that bears his name. Alacrity derives from the Latin word alacer, meaning "lively" or "eager." It denotes physical quickness coupled with eagerness or enthusiasm. Are there any other words in English from Latin alacer? Yes—allegro, which is used as a direction in music with the meaning "at a brisk lively tempo.” It came to English via Italian (where it can mean "merry") and is assumed to be ultimately from alacer.
Synonyms
Examples of alacrity in a Sentence
Randall Kennedy, Atlantic, May 1997
Every Disney worker I spoke to, from ticket sellers to gardeners sprucing up already-immaculate flower beds, knew the answer to my questions and responded with smiling alacrity.
—Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, 22 June 1990
… when he entered the drawing room before dinner, the buzz of discussion was high between Tom, Maria, and Mr. Yates; and Mr. Rushworth stepped forward with great alacrity to tell him the agreeable news.
—Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814
She accepted the invitation with an alacrity that surprised me.
having just acquired his driver's license that morning, the teen agreed with alacrity to drive his cousin to the airport
Ari Shavit, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2024
Sharpness and alacrity will return to you in future.
—Jennifer Culp, Them, 26 July 2024
With an alacrity in stark contrast to the 21st-century, less than three weeks later the justices ruled, unanimously, that the president must abide by a special prosecutor’s subpoena and turn over audiotapes related to Watergate.
—Chris Doyle, Hartford Courant, 22 July 2024
Outside of New Delhi, the central government has involved itself with greater alacrity in domains constitutionally under the jurisdiction of India’s states.
—Milan Vaishnav, Foreign Affairs, 18 Mar. 2021
See all Example Sentences for alacrity 
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Cite this Entry
“Alacrity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alacrity. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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alacrity
noun
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