alacrity
English
Etymology
Coined between 1500 and 1510 from Latin alacritās,[1] from alacer (“brisk”) + -itas (“-ity”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: ə-lă'crĭ-tē, IPA(key): [əˈlækɹɨti]
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
alacrity (countable and uncountable, plural alacrities)
- Eagerness; liveliness; enthusiasm.
- Synonyms: avidity, eagerness, enthusiasm, willingness
- Antonyms: apathy, disinclination, hesitance, indifference, reluctance
- 1553 (posth.), Thomas More, A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, Book I, Chapter 19:
- Besides, a wealthy man, well at ease, may pray to God quietly and merrily with alacrity and great quietness of mind, whereas he who lieth groaning in his grief cannot endure to pray nor can he hardly think upon anything but his pain.
- 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act V, sc. 3:
- I have not that alacrity of spirit
- Nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have.
- 1837, Charles Dickens, chapter 12, in The Pickwick Papers:
- "I'll get into the clothes this minute, if they're here," said Sam, with great alacrity.
- 1920, Edward Arlington Robinson, The Three Taverns, "Tasker Norcross":
- You have an overgrown alacrity
- For saying nothing much and hearing less […]
- 1922, Edith Wharton, chapter 24, in The Glimpses of the Moon:
- This evening, however, he was struck by the beaming alacrity of the aide-de-camp's greeting.
- Promptness; speed.
- 1849, Henry David Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience":
- Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way.
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 205, column 2:
- He had a uniform jacket with one button off, and seeing a white man on the path, hoisted his weapon to his shoulder with alacrity.
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- 1849, Henry David Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience":
Related terms
Translations
eagerness
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promptness
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