Dictionary

levitous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈlɛ.vɪ.təs/ (UK, US)

Etymology

From levity + -ous.

Meanings

1. (rare) Exhibiting levity.
   • 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. 1886, Sam Porter Jones, Quit Your Meanness, page 89:
   • "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'." 1907, Harry Leon Wilson, Ewing's Lady, page 61:
   • 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. 1981, Gilbert Sorrentino, Crystal Vision, →ISBN, page 60:
   • 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. 2002, Annette Rathje, Marjatta Nielsen, Bodil Bundgaard Rasmussen, Pots for the Living, Pots for the Dead, →ISBN, page 37:

Forms