Blithe

  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Blithe

Definition: Blithe

Blithe

Adjective

1. Lacking or showing a lack of due concern; "spoke with blithe ignorance of the true situation".

2. Carefree and happy and lighthearted; "was loved for her blithe spirit"; "a merry blithesome nature"; "her lighthearted nature"; "trilling songs with a lightsome heart".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "blithe" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1374. (references)


Synonyms: Blithe

Synonyms: blithesome (adj), lighthearted (adj), lightsome (adj). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Blithe

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Cheerfulness

Adjective: cheerful; happy; cheery, cheerly; of good cheer, smiling; blithe; in spirits, in good spirits; breezy, bully, chipper; in high spirits, in high feather; happy as the day is long, happy as a king; gay as a lark; allegro; debonair; light, lightsome, light hearted; buoyant, debonnaire, bright, free and easy, airy; janty, jaunty, canty; hedonic; riant; sprightly, sprightful; spry; spirited, spiritful; lively, animated, vivacious; brisk as a bee; sparkling, sportive; full of play, full of spirit; all alive.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Blithe

English words defined with "blithe": blithesomecasualinsouciantlighthearted, lightsome, Lively stonesnonchalant. (references)
Specialty definitions using "blithe": Horatian Metrereporter. (references)
Etymologies containing "blithe": Bliss. (references)

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Modern Usage: Blithe

DomainUsage

Screenplays

He will not refuse one who is so blithe to go to Him. (A Man for All Seasons; writing credit: Robert Bolt)

But Blithe, the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead (Band of Brothers; writing credit: Stephen Ambrose; Erik Jendresen)

Movie/TV Titles

Blithe Spirit (1966)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Blithe

DomainTitle

Books

  • Blithe Images (Language of Love No. 38) (reference)

  • Blithe Spirit - starring Shirley Knight, Ian Ogilvy, Judy Geeson, Rosalind Ayres (Audio Theatre Series) [UNABRIDGED] (reference)

  • Blithe Spirit (Second Chance at Love No 313) (reference)

  • Blithe Spirit: An Improbable Farce [UNABRIDGED] (reference)

  • Blithe Spirits (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Theater & Movies

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Blithe

Illustrations:
Blithe

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Blithe

ThumbnailDescription & Credit

Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. John Leonard Jr. and Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Christina Blithe slice the birthday cake with a sword on behalf of all enlisted Guardsmen during the National Guard's 364th birthday celebration in Arlington, Va., on.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Sounds Captioned with "Blithe".

PlayCaption
Amusing; arbitrary; capricious; chancy; chimerical; comical; curious; dicey; droll; eccentric; erratic; fanciful; fantastic; flaky; freakish; funny; quaint; unertain; wagish; playful; animated; blithe; bouncy; cheerful; cheery; effervescent; elastic; fanc.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Familiar Quotations: Blithe

AuthorQuotation

John Milton

So buxom, blithe, and debonair.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Use in Literature: Blithe

TitleAuthorQuote

Tangled Tale

Carroll, Lewis

Your names are BLITHE, E.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Blithe

SubjectTopicQuote

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

REPORTER, n. A writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a tempest of words. "More dear than all my bosom knows, O thou Whose 'lips are sealed' and will not disavow!" So sang the blithe reporter-man as grew Beneath his hand the leg-long "interview." Barson Maith

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Blithe

"Blithe" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Blithe" is used about 40 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)100%4054,274

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expression: Blithe

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "blithe": blithe-heart.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Blithe

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

blithe spirit

27

blithe

10

blithe son

2

adidas blithe

2

blithe coward noel spirit

2

blithe script spirit

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Blithe

Language Translations for "blithe"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

i gëzuar (airy, blithesome, canty, cheerful, coltish, glad, Gladdening, gladsome, gleeful, happy, joyful, joyous, larky, lightsome, merry, mirthful, oared, sprightly). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏مرح (airiness, airy, be merry, breezy, bright, buoyancy, buoyant, cheerful, cheerfulness, cheering, chirpy, exult, facetious, festive, fresh, frisk, frisky, frolic, frolicsome, fun, gaiety, gay, glee, gleeful, have fun, hilarious, hilarity, jaunty, jocose, jocosity, jocund, jolly, jovial, joviality, joy, joyful, joyfulness, joyous, kittenish, lark, light, lightsome, lively, make merry, merriment, merry, merry making, mirth, mirthful, perkiness, perky, playful, playfulness, playing, rejoice, rollick, romp, sportive, sprightly, sunny, vivacious, vivacity, what fun, winsome), ‏مبتهج (alacrity, breezy, bright, buoyant, carefree, cheerful, cheery, debonair, delighted, delightful, elate, elated, exultant, gay, glad, gleeful, happy, high-spirited, jolly, joyful, joyous, jubilant, mellow, merry, mirthful, overjoyed, palmy, rejoicing, upbeat), ‏سعيد (auspicious, blessed, blissful, carefree, felicitous, fortuitous, fortunate, gay, glad, happy, happy go lucky, high, in high spirits, joyful, joyous, lucky, merry, pi, pollyanna, providential, thankful, unstressed, upbeat). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

весел (airy, blithesome, boisterous, bright, buoyant, canty, cheery, chirp, chirpy, colorful, colourful, coltish, convivial, daft, debonair, exhilarated, festal, gamesome, gay, genial, gladsome, gleeful, gleesome, good humoured, good-humored, high, humorous, jaunty, jocular, jocund, joky, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, light, light hearted, lightsome, lively, mellow, merry, mirthful, peppy, perky, rackety, roistering, rollicking, rorty, rosy, saucy, slaphappy, sparkish, sportive, sporty, sprightly, swinging, upbeat, winsome), игрив (coltish, frisky, frolic, frolicsome, gamesome, gay, jocose, kittenish, mischievous, monkeyish, pert, playful, skittish, sportful, sportive, tricksy, wanton). (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

愉快 (Agreeable, Happy). (various references)

   

Czech

  

radostný (cheerful, cheery, exhilarating, festive, glad, gladsome, gleeful, gleesome, good, jolly, joyful, joyous, jubilant, rorty). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

مهربانی (Affability, Amiability, Kindness), مهربان (Affable, Amiable, Benign, Charitable, Clement, Comkpliant, Gentle, Good, Gracious, Humane, Kind, Kindly, Meek, Mellow, Merciful, Mild, Open, Soft, Tenderminded), نرم وملایم , خوش قلب , خوش (Blissful, Buxom, Gay, Good, Happy, Jocund, Merry, Sweet), ادم شوخ ومهربان , شوخ (Gay, Jester, Jocose, Jocular, Jocularity, Joker, Mower, Quizzical, Waggish, Witty), شاددل (Merry), دوستانه (Amicable, Hobnob, Sociable). (various references)

   

French

  

joyeux, gai, content, allègre. (various references)

   

German

  

vergnügt (amuses, cheerful, cheerfully, cheerily, enjoyable, gay, gleeful, happily, happy, hilarious, jolly, merrily, merry, pleasant), heiter (alacritous, amusing, bright, brightly, buoyant, buoyantly, carefree, cheerful, cheerfully, cheery, clear, fair, fine, funny, gay, gayly, genially, glad, happily, happy, humorous, humorously, jocund, jovial, jovially, lighthearted, mellow, merry, mirthful, mirthfully, sanguine, serene, sunny, tranquil, untroubled), froh (cheerily, cheery, glad, gladly, happy, joyful, joyous, lucky, mirthful, pleased). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

φαιδρόσ (cheerful, debonair, gay, genial, guy, hilarious, jovial, vivacious, winsome), εύθυμοσ (chirpy, convivial, debonair, festive, frabjous, gay, happy go lucky, hilarious, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyous, light hearted, merry, mirthful, resilient, sprightly, zippy), ευτυχής (blissful). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

עליז (cheerful, festal, frisky, frolic, frolicsome, gay, hilarious, jocose, jocund, jolly, joyful, light hearted, merry, mirthful, playful, sprightly). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

vidám (amused, blithe as a lark, bobbish, cheerful, chirpy, comic, comical, daft, dashing, droll, exhilarated, felicitous, frisky, frolicsome, gay, glad, gladsome, gleeful, gleesome, hilarious, jaunty, jocose, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, light hearted, light-hearted, mellow, merry, mirthful, playful, rejoicing, rollicking, sprightly, sunny, to be in high spirits), tájékozatlan, pajzán (blithesome, impish), naiv (green, guileless, gullible, ingenuous, innocent, naïve, naif, naive, pushover, untutored), dévaj (mischievous, puckish, skittish). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

bahagia (happy). (various references)

   

Italian

  

giocoso (jocose, jocular, playful), allegro (allegro, blithesome, breezy, bright, buoyant, cheerful, cheery, frisky, frolicsome, gay, hilarious, jocular, jolly, jovial, joyful, laughing, light hearted, lightsome, lively, merry, mirthful, perky, sportive, sprightly, sunny, wanton). (various references)

   

Manx

  

reagh (amorous, frisky, frolicsome, lecherous, mirthful, playful, randy, sportive), gennal (amiable, blithesome, cheerful, convivial, gay, genial, good-humoured, jocular, jolly, jovial, mirthful). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

itheblay.(various references)

   

Portuguese

  

jovial (blithesome, breezy, cant, canty, cheerful, convivial, debonair, gay, genial, jocular, joky, jolly, jovial, lively, mellow, merry, mirthful, rakish, resilient, rollicking, sprightly, winsome), alegre (alive, blithesome, bonny, boon, breezy, brisk, buoyant, buxom, canty, cheerful, cheery, chirpy, coltish, convivial, corky, diverting, entertaining, exhilarated, festal, festive, frolicsome, gamesome, gay, glad, gladsome, gleeful, happy, hilarious, holiday, jaunty, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, jubilant, larksome, laughing, light, light-hearted, lightsome, lively, merry, mirthful, peart, resilient, slaphappy, sportful, sportive, sprightly, tipsy, vivid, volatile, winsome). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

vesel (blithesome, boon, breezy, bright, cheerful, cheerfully, cheery, chirpy, convivial, crank, debonair, elastic, feastful, festal, frisky, frolic, frolicsome, full-blooded, gaily, gamesome, gay, genial, glad, gladsome, gleeful, happy, hilarious, in full feather, in high feather, jauntily, jaunty, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyfully, joyous, lively, mellow, merry, mirthful, playful, pleasant, riant, saucy, sprightly, tails up, wanton), fericit (beatific, beatifical, blessed, felicitous, fortunate, glad, happily, happy, joyful, successful). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

веселый (blithesome, breezy, canty, cheerful, cheery, chirpy, convivial, corky, debonair, exhilarated, exhilarating, festive, frolic, gamesome, gay, gleeful, hilarious, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, light hearted, lightsome, lively, merry, mirthful, perky, playful, pleasant, set up, sportful, sportive, sprightly), жизнерадостный (buoyant, debonair, eupeptic, good-humoured, jolly as sandboy, lively as a cricket, merry as a cricket, resilient, rose-coloured, zestful). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

bezbrižan (carefree, fancy-free, happy go lucky, jaunty), veseo (blithesome, canty, cheerful, exuberant, festive, frolic, gay, happy, jocose, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, lighthearted, lightsome, lively, merry, mirthful, perky, rejoicing, rollicking), radostan (glad, gladdening, gladsome, gleesome, hilarious, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, rejoicing). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

contento (chipper, chuffed, content, contented, contentedness, contentment, glad, happiness, happy, pleased, satisfied), alegre (airy, blithesome, boon, breezy, bright, canty, cheerful, cheery, chipper, Chirk, chirpy, chuffed, contentious, convivial, debonair, felicitous, gamesome, gay, glad, happy, high-spirited, holiday, jaunty, jocose, jolly, joyful, light, light hearted, lightsome, lively, merry, mirthful, perky, pert, playful, pleased, rollicking, sportful, sporty, swinging, upbeat, zappy). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

munter (breezy, cheerful, cheery, frolic, frolicsome, gay, gleeful, gleesome, hilarious, jocose, jocund, jolly, merry, mirthful, sprightly). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

neşeli (airy, animate, animated, boon, breezy, bright, bucked, buoyant, buoyed up, cheerful, cheerfully, cheery, chirpy, cock-a-hoop, debonair, debonaire, easygoing, eupeptic, exhilarated, fit as a fiddle, full of beans, gamesome, gay, genial, gleeful, high, hilarious, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, lively, merry, merrymaking, mirthful, perky, rambunctious, rollicking, slaphappy, spirited, sportive, sprightly, sunny, upbeat, vivacious), mutlu (blissful, chuffed, contented, delighted, elated, felicitous, happy, merry, palmy, rejoicing), şen (breezy, cheerful, cheery, convivial, eupeptic, frolicsome, gay, gleeful, jaunty, jocund, jolly, merry, merrymaking, mirthful, sportive). (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

щасливий (blessed, chancy, felicitous, fortunate, golden, happy, joyful, joyous, lucky, overjoyed, palmy, providential, thrifty), веселий (airy, boon, breezy, bright, canty, cavalier, cheerful, cheery, chipper, chirpy, convivial, debonair, exhilarated, gay, happy go lucky, jolly, jovial, merry, mirthful, perky, pleasant, rackety, sportful, sunny), житт"радісний (buoyant, canty, chirpy, exuberant, jocund, resilient), блаженний (beatific, blissful). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

vui vẻ (blithesome, boon, canty, cheery, chirk, debonair, gay, genial, glad, gladsome, good-humored, good-humoured, heartily, hearty, hilarious, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, laughing, merrily, mirthful, pleasant, sportful). (various references)

   

Welsh

  

llon (glad, merry), llawen (cheerful, gay, glad, joyful, merry), hoenus (blithesome, gay, joyous). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Blithe

Derivations

Words beginning with "blithe": blithely, blither, blithered, blithering, blithers, blithesome, blithesomely, blithest. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Blithe" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ablythe, Baitha, Beithe, Bhikhu, bilithe, bilopha, bithe, Blaha, blaithe, blath, blathe, blete, blethed, Blethyn, blidah, blih, Blisham, bliteh, blith, blithel, blithes, blithey, blitze, blizhee, bltihe, Bluth, Blythin, Bulith, Elithie. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Blithe"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "blithe" (pronounced blī"th)
3-l ī" thlithe.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Blithe

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "b-e-h-i-l-t"

-1 letter: blite, lithe.

-2 letters: belt, beth, bile, bite, blet, elhi, heil, hilt, lite, tile.

-3 letters: bel, bet, bit, eth, het, hie, hit, lei, let, lib, lie, lit, tel, the, tie, til.

-4 letters: be, bi, eh, el, et, he, hi, it, li, ti.

 Words containing the letters "b-e-h-i-l-t"
 

+1 letter: blither, thimble.

 

+2 letters: bimethyl, blighted, blighter, blithely, blithers, blithest, thimbles, thurible, tithable.

 

+3 letters: biathlete, bimethyls, blighters, blighties, blithered, blotchier, blueshift, breathily, eightball, establish, habitable, herbalist, heritable, homebuilt, phlebitis, shiftable, thinkable, thuribles.

 

+4 letters: alphabetic, battleship, beclothing, biathletes, bioethical, birthplace, blathering, blethering, blithering, blithesome, blotchiest, blueshifts, charitable, eightballs, habiliment, habilitate, herbalists, hospitable, sheathbill, shibboleth, stablished, stablishes, switchable, thimbleful, thimblerig.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Sounds
9. Quotations: Familiar
10. Quotations: Fiction
11. Quotations: Non-fiction
12. Usage Frequency
13. Expressions
14. Expressions: Internet
15. Translations: Modern
16. Derivations
17. Rhymes
18. Anagrams
19. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.