blithely

English

WOTD – 8 November 2007

Etymology

From Middle English blythely, blyþely, bliþeliche, from Old English blīþelīċe (“gladly, blithely”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]; compare Dutch blijdelijk. By surface analysis, blithe +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈblaɪðli/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Adverb

blithely (comparative more blithely, superlative most blithely)

1. Without care, concern, or consideration.

   Synonyms: carelessly, indifferently

   As the bombs fell on the city, the woman blithely continued with her chores.

   • 1986 November 24, Susan Sontag, “The Way We Live Now”, in The New Yorker‎^[1]:

     […] and now was hardly the time, as Stephen pointed out, to be worried about cleaning up his act, and eliminating the chemical additives and other pollutants that we’re all blithely or not so blithely feasting on, blithely since we’re healthy, healthy as we can be; so far, Ira said.

   • 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[2]:

     The episode also opens with an inspired bit of business for Homer, who blithely refuses to acquiesce to an elderly neighbor’s utterly reasonable request that he help make the process of selling her house easier by wearing pants when he gallivants about in front of windows, throw out his impressive collection of rotting Jack-O-Lanterns from previous Halloweens and take out his garbage, as it’s attracting wildlife (cue moose and Northern Exposure theme song).

   • 2023 February 6, Hilary Osborne, “I thought knowing I had the ‘cancer gene’ would cast a shadow over my life. Now I have it, I realise how wrong I was”, in The Guardian‎^[3], →ISSN:

     So I carried on, blithely ignorant. And by the time I saw the stats, there was a 100% chance I’d got it.

2. In a joyful, carefree manner.

   Synonyms: gladly, joyfully, merrily

3. (obsolete) In a kind manner.

Related terms

• blitheful
• blithefully
• blithefulness
• blithen
• blitheness
• blithesome

Translations

without care, concern, or consideration

• Dutch: zorgeloos (nl)
• Finnish: huolettomasti (fi)
• German: ungerührt (de), unbekümmert (de)
• Kyrgyz: көнүлдүү (könüldüü)
• Russian: беспе́чно (ru) (bespéčno)
• Serbo-Croatian: bezbrižno (sh)
• Swedish: bekymmerslöst (sv)

in a joyful, carefree manner

• Finnish: hilpeästi (fi)
• German: unbekümmert (de)
• Italian: spensieratamente (it), allegramente (it)
• Serbo-Croatian: bezbrižno (sh)

In a kind manner

• Serbo-Croatian: bezbrižno (sh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Polish: beztrosko (pl), niefrasobliwie