jaunty
adjective
Did you know?
Does throwing on a jaunty hat make someone appear more genteel? Maybe, but something more definitive links the words: both jaunty and genteel come from the French word gentil, meaning "of aristocratic birth." Genteel was borrowed first to describe things associated with aristocratic people. Jaunty joined the language just a few years later in the mid-17th century as a synonym of stylish and also as a synonym for genteel. While genteel has maintained its associations of propriety and high social class, jaunty has traipsed into less stuffy territory as a descriptor of tunes and hats and other things that suggest lively confidence.
Synonyms
- active
- airy
- animate
- animated
- bouncing
- brisk
- energetic
- frisky
- gay
- jazzy
- kinetic
- lively
- mettlesome
- peppy
- perky
- pert
- pizzazzy
- pizazzy
- racy
- snappy
- spanking
- sparky
- spirited
- sprightly
- springy
- vital
- vivacious
- zippy
Example Sentences
Barton Gellman, Wired, 24 May 2020 There was a jaunty red scarf around her neck, pinned with a large jeweled brooch. Seija Rankin, EW.com, 5 May 2020 Stein’s gnomic text, full of repetitions and oddities, and Thomson’s jaunty marches, waltzes and folk-like tunes create a stew of noise and conflict, with Susan B.,... Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 12 Feb. 2020 California Located along Southern California’s coast, the Aquarium of the Pacific is home to 20 jaunty Magellanic penguins. Lindsay Lambert Day, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Mar. 2020 This playfulness keeps the movie determinedly jaunty. Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2020 Was the song’s jaunty sound jeering at this guy, or sympathizing with him? Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 3 Apr. 2020 Augie has a hilarious variety of expressions and sounds; hearing a chicken clucking, immediately followed by jaunty clarinet music, definitely made my day. USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2020 Sophia Lillis is a technicolor dream in a plaid trouser-and-shirt ensemble, a jaunty newsboy cap sitting atop her bright auburn hair. Angie Jaime, Teen Vogue, 4 Mar. 2020 See More Word History
modification of French gentil
1662, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Kids Definition
jaunty
adjective
jaunty
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- lively
- animated
- energetic
- brisk
- animate
- active
- bouncing
- cheerful
- jazzy
- spirited
- sprightly
- playful
- peppy
- perky
- racy
- zippy
- enthusiastic
- pert
- vivacious
- frisky
- springy
- snappy
- kinetic
- sparky
- awake
- gay
- mettlesome
- spanking
- airy
- dashing
- dapper
- vital
- up
- agile
- bright
- spiffy
- pizazzy
- chirpy
- chipper
- spry
- buoyant
- pizzazzy
- upbeat
- eager
- effervescent
- frolicsome
- exuberant
- impish
- nimble
- ebullient
- on the go
- sparkly
- boisterous
- bubbly
- alert
- agog
- pixieish
- open-eyed
- wide-awake
- keen
- nervous
- skittish
- chirrupy
- high-spirited
- high-strung
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- languid
- limp
- leaden
- lackadaisical
- listless
- vapid
- spiritless
- dead
- lifeless
- lazy
- languishing
- inactive
- languorous
- inanimate
- weary
- indolent
- sluggish
- inert
- stolid
- unambitious
- sleepy
- tired
- torpid
- lethargic
- phlegmatic
- impassive
- dull
- apathetic
- boring
- tedious
- irksome