levitous

English

Etymology

levity + -ous

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈlɛ.vɪ.təs/

Adjective

levitous (comparative more levitous, superlative most levitous)

  1. (rare) Exhibiting levity.
    • 1886, Sam Porter Jones, Quit Your Meanness, page 89:
      Crack these jokes one at a time, and you'll find every one of 'em has the red-hot sting of a hornet tangled up in it, and you'll get stung. If you think it's levity it's because you have a levitous mind.
    • 1907, Harry Leon Wilson, Ewing's Lady, page 61:
      "She's saddle stock, fur looks, that lady is, but she ain't serious. No, sir! When her eyes is on me I know as well's I want to she's snickerin' inside; makes no difference if her face does look like it was starched. You'll find, when all's said an' done, that she's plumb levitous, an' levitous folks is triflin'."
    • 1981, Gilbert Sorrentino, Crystal Vision (→ISBN), page 60:
      In effects, this centeristic intelligent creature is not amused, if I may be for a moment levitous. By all means be levitous, Curtin says. Levitism is the soul of discourse.
    • 2002, Annette Rathje, ‎Marjatta Nielsen, ‎Bodil Bundgaard Rasmussen, Pots for the Living, Pots for the Dead →ISBN, page 37:
      As in the case of Paris on the Tyrrhenian amphorae, the levitous treatment of the goddess shows that an august, universally known mythological event could be treated with humour.

Anagrams

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.