joie de vivren.

1889 E. Dowson Let. 1 Apr. (1967) 58 I do not suppose ‘la joie de vivre’ will be revealed to me any more at Limehouse than in the Temple.

1901 ‘L. Malet’ Hist. Richard Calmady iii. v. 204 The hungry all-compelling joie de vivre which is begotten whensoever youth thus seeks and finds youth.

1905 E. F. Benson Image in Sand xiii She had found herself in the very highlands of serenity and joie de vivre.

1907 Westm. Gaz. 5 Feb. 4/2 The new joie de vivre of motoring.

1917 S. McKenna Sonia vi. 263 It was only when the twanging banjos changed to rag-time that the majority of our neighbours sheepishly unbent and put forth an assumption of joie de vivre.

1925 A. P. Herbert Laughing Ann 82 The simple mind and manly air, Not Brains so much as Breeding, With joie de vivre and savoir faire, Are constantly succeeding.

1930 Observer 13 Apr. 15 The joie de vivre of Blackpool Beach.

1935 Discovery Jan. 28/2 Song is an outlet for any of a bird's emotions.., but chiefly joie de vivre.

1944 Burlington Mag. Sept. 216/2 Many delightful travel impressions have also been noted by him in spirited pen and wash drawings, glistening with joie-de-vivre.

1955 Times 16 Aug. 5/3 She is excitable, but rather in the sense of joie de vivre. Children play with her, ride on her back, twist her tail and do anything that might aggravate a ferocious dog.

1964 R. Church Voy. Home i. 10 Suffering acutely from the effort to ignore the bursts of joie-de-vivre from the corridors.

1974 I. Murdoch Sacred & Profane Love Machine 96 He had laughed at Sophie's spiteful jokes, of which the sheer joie de vivre had seemed to lessen the bite.