Word of the Day

: November 18, 2008

blithesome

adj BLYTHE-sum

What It Means

: gay, merry

blithesome in Context

In The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-Day, Mark Twain's Laura, who had been struck by love, wondered why she had never before noticed "how blithesome the world was."

Did You Know?

"Blithesome" comes from "blithe," a word that has been a part of English since before the 12th century. "Blithe" can mean "casual" and "heedless" as well as "joyful" and "lighthearted," but "blithesome" obviously makes use of only the "joyful, lighthearted" sense. "Blithesome" didn't show up in print in English until 1724, and is now relatively uncommon, but you'll find it in the works of such authors as Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, Mark Twain, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.