levitous

English

Etymology

levity +‎ -ous

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.vɪ.təs/

Adjective

levitous (comparative more levitous, superlative most levitous)

1. (rare) Exhibiting levity.
   • 1886, Sam Porter Jones, Quit Your Meanness, page 89:

     Crack these jokes one at a time, and you'll find every one of 'em has the red-hot sting of a hornet tangled up in it, and you'll get stung. If you think it's levity it's because you have a levitous mind.

   • 1907, Harry Leon Wilson, Ewing's Lady, page 61:

     "She's saddle stock, fur looks, that lady is, but she ain't serious. No, sir! When her eyes is on me I know as well's I want to she's snickerin' inside; makes no difference if her face does look like it was starched. You'll find, when all's said an' done, that she's plumb levitous, an' levitous folks is triflin'."

   • 1981, Gilbert Sorrentino, Crystal Vision, →ISBN, page 60:

     In effects, this centeristic intelligent creature is not amused, if I may be for a moment levitous. By all means be levitous, Curtin says. Levitism is the soul of discourse.

   • 2002, Annette Rathje, Marjatta Nielsen, Bodil Bundgaard Rasmussen, Pots for the Living, Pots for the Dead, →ISBN, page 37:

     As in the case of Paris on the Tyrrhenian amphorae, the levitous treatment of the goddess shows that an august, universally known mythological event could be treated with humour.

Anagrams

• lives out, outlives, ovulites, solutive