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To put it simply, today's levity, meaning lightness of mood, is the opposite of gravity, heaviness of mood.
Could you recall some other opposites?
Malevolent & b_________.
Cornerstone & c_______.
Merit & d______.
Obfuscate & e________.
make your point with...
"LEVITY"
"Levity" basically means "lightness."
Literal levity is a light, floating quality.
Figurative levity is the opposite of seriousness: it's playfulness, humor, or the absence of seriousness. Sometimes, levity is inappropriate playfulness or humor, or a failure to be serious.
Pronunciation:
LEV ih tee
Part of speech:
Uncountable noun.
(Like "milk," "rice," and "education," uncountable nouns are words for stuff that can’t be broken into exact units. You talk about "some milk," "the rice," and "a lot of education," but you don’t say "a milk," "three rices," or "many educations."
Likewise, talk about "the levity," "such levity," "no levity," and so on, but don’t say "levities.")
Other forms:
Some people use "levitous" as an adjective, but I don't recommend it: you won't find it in dictionaries.
How to use it:
Today, levity is most often a good thing: you can bring levity to a sad or serious situation, inject some levity into a dull event, or savor a moment of levity in dire circumstances. Whenever there's tension, strife, grief, pain, or suffering, levity is a welcome relief.
But levity can also be unwelcome and inappropriate: "This is no time for levity," "they behaved with unbecoming levity at the ceremony," "their levity offended the audience."
Instead of "levity," pick "legerity" when you mean "a welcome and lovely lightness of touch, feeling, or movement." (And pick "levity" when you mean "a welcome OR unwelcome lightness of mood.")
examples:
Granddad is remembered for his levity. He once helped my sister and me learn the names of our internal organs by making sketches of them and letting us pretend to yank them from him while he shouted things like "Oh, no! Not my liver!"
Our senior year economics class culminated in a group project: making a video. Every one of us approached it with outrageous levity, pushing the boundaries of what our easygoing teacher would allow.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "levity" means when you can explain it without saying "humor inappropriate for the situation" or "comic relief."
try it out:
Think of a time you enjoyed real laughter in an otherwise sad or serious situation. Fill in the blanks: "Even in (a sad or serious situation), there was room for levity: (something funny or playful happened)."
Example: "Even in the days leading up the funeral, there was room for levity: all the adult cousins gathered on the porch for a silly recreation of our 1984 group photo."
before you review:
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we’re playing with anagrams: rearrangements of the letters in a word to form new words. (For example, “care” has two anagrams: “acre” and “race.”) Looking for these makes you a stronger player in other word games. But more importantly, it helps you practice thinking flexibly and methodically. Plus you get to giggle at potential non-words and discover new real words. We’ll work our way from shorter to longer anagrams. And at any point if you wonder why I left out a word you wanted to list, or why I included a word you think isn’t a real one, hold your fire: our authority for this game is ScrabbleWordFinder.org, which draws from a highly inclusive dictionary. Let’s play!
From yesterday: What are the 3 anagrams for FRIENDS?
Answer: FINDERS, REDFINS, and REFINDS.
Try this one today: What are the 2 anagrams for REPLICAS?
review today's word:
1. The precise opposite of LEVITY is GRAVITY. Another opposite of LEVITY is
A. FEAR
B. GLOOM
C. COMPLEXITY
2. Three employees were _____ for their levity at the international conference.
A. chided
B. distraught
C. promoted
Answers are below.
a final word:
To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes.
Answers to review questions:
1. B
2. A
To put it simply, today's levity, meaning lightness of mood, is the opposite of gravity, heaviness of mood.
"LEVITY" "Levity" basically means "lightness." Pronunciation: Part of speech:
Granddad is remembered for his levity. He once helped my sister and me learn the names of our internal organs by making sketches of them and letting us pretend to yank them from him while he shouted things like "Oh, no! Not my liver!"
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "levity" means when you can explain it without saying "humor inappropriate for the situation" or "comic relief."
Think of a time you enjoyed real laughter in an otherwise sad or serious situation. Fill in the blanks: "Even in (a sad or serious situation), there was room for levity: (something funny or playful happened)."
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The precise opposite of LEVITY is GRAVITY. Another opposite of LEVITY is
To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
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