Dictionary

blithe en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /blaɪθ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• (Received-Pronunciation) audio
• /blaɪð/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English blithe (“glad, happy, joyful; causing joy, joyous; gentle, mild; gracious, merciful; bright, shining; beautiful, fair”) [and other forms], from Old English blīþe (“happy, gentle”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīþī, from Proto-Germanic *blīþiz (“friendly; gentle, mild; pleasing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlī- (“fine; light; pleasant”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny; white”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian bliede (“glad, cheerful, merry”), West Frisian bliid (“cheerful, glad”), Dutch blij (“happy”), German Low German blied (“happy, lucky”).

Meanings

1. Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant.
   • She had a blithe disregard of cultures outside the United States.
   • From mother and nurse it was a guerilla^([sic]) gunfire of commands, and blithe, quicksilver disobedience from the three blonde, never-still little girls. 1913–1921, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “England, My England”, in England My England and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published 24 October 1922, →OCLC, page 23:
   • In this article, I examine the documentation and source code of Wikilambda to critique both its ideals and its implementation. There is in fact an intimate link between the project’s ideals and its blithe ignorance of “decades of programming language research.” The project expresses, in a typically extreme way, a certain kind of hacker utopianism. 2026, Michael Falk, “Wikilambda the ultimate: the Wikimedia foundation’s search for the perfect language”, in AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication, →DOI:
2. (Scotland, qualifier:elsewhere dated or literary) Cheerful, happy.
   • Shou'd he return, that troop ſo blithe and bold, With purple robes inwrought, and ſtiff with gold, Precipitant in fear, wou'd wing their flight, And curſe their cumbrous pride's unwieldy weight. 1725, Homer, “Book I”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 26, lines 211–214:
   • And now ſweet Emperour be blithe againe, And bury all thy feare in my deuiſes. c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 47, column 2:
   • Hail to thee, blithe spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 1820 June (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “To a Skylark”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 201:
   • Tarry, tarry, ye wha were aye sae blythe to be at the meetings of the saints, and wad ride every muir in Scotland to find a conventicle. 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume III (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 85–86:
   • I was feeling blithe, almost jocund. 1876 June, Mark Twain, “The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut”, in The Atlantic:
   • To-night, however, she was even in a blither mood than usual. There was a dreaminess, a preoccupation, an exaltation, in the maternal look which the girl could not understand. 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter III, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), page 31:
   • But not more blythe than sylvan court, Than we have been at humbler sport; Though small our pomp, and mean our game, Our mirth, dear Marriot, was the same. 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Introduction to Canto Second: To the Rev. John Marriot, M.A.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, page 63:
   • For that fair femal Troop thou ſawſt, that ſeemd Of Goddeſſes, ſo blithe, ſo ſmooth, ſo gay, Yet empty of good wherein conſiſts, Womans domeſtic honour and chief praiſe; […] 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 610–613:
   • He looked so irresistibly pleasant, in a word, that three or four good-humoured fellows said, "Good morning, sir! A merry Christmas to you!" And Scrooge said often afterwards, that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears. 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 158:
3. (obsolete) Fair, beautiful, comely; gracious, pleasant and attractive in manner.
   • Thy garters fringed with the golde, And siluer aglets hanging by, Which made thee blithe for to beholde, And yet thou wouldst not loue me. 1878 [1584], Clement Robinson, “A new Courtly Sonet, of the Lady Greensleeues” (stanza 10), in Edward Arber, editor, A Handful of Pleasant Delights:
   • There on Beds of Violets blew, And freſh-blown Roſes waſht in dew, Fill'd her with thee a daughter fair, So buckſom, blith, and debonair. a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 31:

Forms

Deriveds

blithesome · blithen · Blythe · blitheful · overblithe · unblithe · blitheless · blithely · blitheness · blither

Relateds

bliss

Translations (29)

fr allègre (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · fr joyeux (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · ca indiferent (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · ky бактылуу (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · fr content (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · ky шайыр (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · fr négligent (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · nds-de blied (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · ru счастли́вый (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · es feliz (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · it indifferente (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · fr indifférent (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · ca descurat (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · mi arokore (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · bg безгрижен (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · es indiferente (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · ru жизнера́достный (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · ru несерьёзный (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · ru весёлый (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · ru беззабо́тный (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · cmn 无所谓 (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · ca descurós (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · fr gai (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · nl blij (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · es alegre (cheerful, happy — see also cheerful, happy) · ru беспе́чный (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · nl onverschillig (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · ru легкомы́сленный (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern) · ru небре́жный (casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern)