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jauntiness

Jauntiness is a characteristic of being happy, carefree, and confident. Your jauntiness makes you a positive and fun person to be around.

When you see your friend hurrying toward you, the jauntiness in her step may tell you she got some good news she was waiting for. Even clothes and music can express jauntiness, if they're bright and cheerful. This word comes from the adjective jaunty, which originally meant "elegant or stylish," from an Anglicized and slightly mispronounced version of the French gentil, "nice or pleasing."

Definitions of jauntiness
  1. noun
    a breezy liveliness
    synonyms: breeziness
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    type of:
    life, liveliness, spirit, sprightliness
    animation and energy in action or expression
  2. noun
    stylishness as evidenced by a smart appearance
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    type of:
    chic, chichi, chicness, last word, modishness, smartness, stylishness, swank
    elegance by virtue of being fashionable
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘jauntiness'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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