gaiety.

1. A cheerful, lively feeling or manner.

2. A bright, lively, or festive quality in appearance.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• forced gaiety
• youthful gaiety

On the page

Her forced gaiety faltered when the conversation turned to the missing letter.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.