290. Gaiety (See also Cheerfulness, Joviality, Joy.)

1. butterfly orchis symbol of gaiety. [Plant Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 172]
2. Gay 90s the 1890s, a decade of carefree and exciting days in America. [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 162]
3. “L’Allegro” pastoral idyll celebrating gaiety and cheerfulness. [Br. Lit.: Milton “L’Allegro”]
4. Mardi Gras festive day celebrated at the close of the pre-Lenten season in France and in New Orleans. [Fr. and Am. Trad.: EB, VI, 608]
5. Roaring Twenties, the the 1920s decade of the Jazz Age and the boom years before the depression. [Am. Hist.: Payton, 515]
6. shamrock indicates light-heartedness. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 177]

Gallantry (See CHIVALRY .)

gai·e·ty / ˈgāitē/ (also gay·e·ty) • n. (pl. -ties) the state or quality of being lighthearted or cheerful: the sudden gaiety of children's laughter. ∎  merrymaking or festivity: he seemed to be a part of the gaiety, having a wonderful time. ∎  (gaieties) dated entertainments or amusements.

gaiety Gaiety Girl a chorus girl or performer in a musical show, originally and especially at the Gaiety, a former London theatre famous for its musicals.
the gaiety of nations general gaiety or amusement; originally as a quotation from Samuel Johnson on the death of the actor David Garrick in Lives of the Poets (1779–81).

gaiety, gaily see GAY.