blithe

Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant.

Adjective

  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 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...
  2. Cheerful, happy.
    • 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,...
    • 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...
    • 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”,...
  3. 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”...
    • 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:...

Origin

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”).

Forms

blither blithest blythe

Related

bliss

Derived

blitheful blitheless blithely blithen blitheness blither blithesome Blythe overblithe unblithe