blithe
pronunciation
How to pronounce blithe in British English:
UK [blaɪð]
How to pronounce blithe in American English:
US [blaɪð, blaɪθ]
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- Adjective:
- lacking or showing a lack of due concern
- carefree and happy and lighthearted
Word Origin
- blithe (adj.)
- Old English bliþe "joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant," from Proto-Germanic *blithiz "gentle, kind" (cognates: Old Saxon bliði "bright, happy," Middle Dutch blide, Dutch blijde, Old Norse bliðr "mild, gentle," Old High German blidi "gay, friendly," Gothic bleiþs "kind, friendly, merciful"). Rare since 16c. No cognates outside Germanic. "The earlier application was to the outward expression of kindly feeling, sympathy, affection to others, as in Gothic and ON.; but in OE. the word had come more usually to be applied to the external manifestation of one's own pleased or happy frame of mind, and hence even to the state itself." [OED]
Example
- 1. There was , after all , something charming about the blithe eclecticism of this worldview .
- 2. Mr berlusconi 's lacklustre , almost blithe speech looked like a missed opportunity to influence the course of events .
- 3. As for politically blithe china , it cannot assume that agnosticism is its best strategy for resource security -- it , too , must recalculate , and probably take an unaccustomed political position rather than straddle the fence .