larkinessn.
/ˈlɑːkɪnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈlɑrkinᵻs/ The quality of being larky; sportiveness.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > playfulness > [noun]
sportfulnessa1586
sportiveness1601
frolicknessa1617
gamesomeness1631
ludibundness1664
playfulness1673
playsomeness1676
friskiness1727
sportability1768
coquetry1794
toyfulness1838
larkiness1896
kittenishness1905
society > leisure > entertainment > frolicking or romping > [noun] > frolicsomeness
rompishness1711
frolicsomeness1727
espièglerie1816
prankfulness1830
prankishness1838
rollickingness1860
rollicksomeness1861
pranksomeness1876
larkishnessa1893
larkiness1896
puckishness1900
1896 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 22 Aug. In reality he [sc. a choirboy] is the incarnation of all that is mischievous; and..if he sings at a cathedral or important church, the more ‘larkiness’ is found in his composition.
1905 G. K. Chesterton Heretics 90 It is hard to see at first sight why so human a thing as leisure and larkiness should always have a religious origin.
1924 R. Hichens After Verdict ii. xx. 303 The ball-boys stood ready, looking alert and full of suppressed larkiness.
1928 Observer 26 Feb. 15/3 Miss Helen Gilliland..has great quality.., but she needs the supreme gift for this work, of larkiness.
1973 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Nov. 1466/4 Wastage or mere larkiness is fatal both to its intention and execution.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1896