felicity

fe·lic·i·ty | \ fi-ˈli-sə-tē

How to pronounce felicity (audio)

\

plural felicities

Definition of felicity

1a : the quality or state of being happy especially : great happiness marital felicity

b : an instance of happiness

2 : something that causes happiness … the small felicities and absurdities of real life manage to peek through the gloom.— A. O. Scott

3 : a pleasing manner or quality especially in art or language a felicity with words The curve of her mouth gives her a Mona Lisa smile, but that's just a felicity of her anatomy.— Diane Ackerman

4 : an apt expression The poet was well known for his felicities.

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about felicity

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Examples of felicity in a Sentence

I've always admired his felicity with words. told his friends that marriage had brought him a felicity that he had never known before

Recent Examples on the Web The downside of such rampant felicity is its aptitude to push up on anything that moves. — New York Times, "What if, Instead of the Internet, We Had Xenobots?," 23 Apr. 2020 Even moviegoers who typically care little for production design went nuts for the visual felicities of Wes Anderson’s masterwork. — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, "There are over a hundred movies to see during the Chicago International Film Festival. Here’s 10 you shouldn’t miss.," 10 Oct. 2019 The power of the book comes not from Atwood’s inspired flights of fancy or felicities of style but from her deliberate subjugation of imagination to demonstrable fact. — Michael Schaub, Los Angeles Times, "Elaine Kendall, author and former L.A. Times book critic, dies at 91," 12 Aug. 2019 Duggar fans on Twitter are loving the baby's name, too: jinger duggar named her baby felicity & honestly i’m obsessed. — Amina Lake Abdelrahman, Good Housekeeping, "Jinger Duggar Gives Birth to Her First Child With Husband Jeremy Vuolo," 20 July 2018 Other highlights were aided by City Center’s distinct stage-to-audience configuration, bringing Balanchine’s choreographic felicities into fine focus. — Robert Greksovic, WSJ, "Dance as the Heart of the City," 7 Nov. 2018 When a graduate student can still depend on a departmental stipend, or institutional fellowship of some sort, the felicities of academia are easier to appreciate in the midst of the adversities. — Rachel Vorona Cote, The New Republic, "Volunteers of the Ivory Tower," 1 May 2018 As their romance develops, the sensitivity and insight with which Johnson treats Andrea’s bewilderment and shame at betraying not just her identity but her people — lesbians as a community — are among this novel’s many felicities. — Christine Sneed, New York Times, "She’s Here, She’s Queer, She’s Figuring Out What That Means," 11 Apr. 2018 There are other credible explanations for Trump's felicity towards Putin. — Stephen Collinson, CNN, "Is Trump's silence on Putin, Daniels telling?," 27 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'felicity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near felicity

felicific calculus

Statistics for felicity

Last Updated

26 Apr 2020

Cite this Entry

“Felicity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/felicity. Accessed 31 May. 2020.

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