Bruce Bliven †1977
Did you know?
Does throwing on a jaunty hat make someone appear more genteel? Maybe, but something more definitive links the words: both jaunty and genteel come from the French word gentil, meaning “of aristocratic birth.” Genteel was borrowed first to describe things associated with aristocratic people. Jaunty joined the language just a few years later in the mid-17th century as a synonym of stylish and also as a synonym for genteel. While genteel has maintained its associations of propriety and high social class, jaunty has traipsed into less stuffy territory as a descriptor of tunes and hats and other things that suggest lively confidence.
Examples of jaunty in a Sentence
Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
Salvadori was last on the Croisette in 2018 with the far jauntier screwball crime romance The Trouble With You, one of many reasons to regret the decision of gifted actor Adèle Haenel to quit the film industry.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2026
The tune is jaunty, but this is the kind of patter that, in Wilson’s work, floats above a grave.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2026
Just as the story mines humor from the collision of old-fashioned ways with a modern frankness, Paul’s score combines the appeal of jaunty golden-age sounds with a freshness that feels present day.
—Naveen Kumar, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for jaunty
Cite this Entry
“Jaunty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jaunty. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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