Make Your Point: FELICITOUS

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pronounce FELICITOUS:

fuh LISS ih tuss

connect this word to others:

(Source)

"Take care, Snake. May the next time we meet be under more felicitous circumstances."

"Ga?"

There's Sideshow Bob, heading out on parole, and saying goodbye to his fellow inmate Snake. Infelicitous circumstances, indeed.

Felicitous circumstances are happy or lucky, and felicitous things in general are well-timed, fortunate, inspired, appropriate, a__, apro__, or app___te.

Can you recall those last three synonyms? They all mean "fitting: perfect for the situation."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Felicitous" and "felicity" trace back through Old French to the Latin word felix, meaning "happy, fortunate, or fruitful."

We've used "felicitous" and "felicity" in English for hundreds of years. In fact, the first names "Felicity" and "Felix" both mean "joy, happiness." They make great names for joyful characters like these.

(Source 1) (Source 2)

In general, too, felicity is joy or happiness. Felicity can also be a joyful, inspired, exceptional ability to speak, write, sing, or otherwise perform.

And felicitous things can be joyful or happy.

Much more often, though, when we say something is felicitous, we mean it's lucky and helpful, or wonderfully appropriate for the situation.

And if we say that a word, a phrase, an expression, or a performance is felicitous, we mean it's expressed or performed exceptionally well.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a felicitous meeting;" "The setting was felicitous."

Other forms:

The noun is "felicity." It's usually uncountable, as in "They're a source of felicity" and "She performs with felicity." But it can be countable, too, as in "His writing abounds with felicities of expression."

The opposite of "felicity" is "infelicity;"

how to use it:

The word "felicitous" is semi-common, very positive, and very formal. Pick it when you want to call special attention to a situation in which all the pieces have wonderfully and luckily fallen into place, or to a person who has said or created something with an astoundingly effective use of language, music, or some other art.

You might talk about felicitous words, phrases, or messages; felicitous encounters or meetings; felicitous situations or circumstances; felicitous pairs or combinations; or felicitous outcomes or results.

examples:

"The American poet and writer Maggie Smith exudes a beatific warmth, so it seemed apt — a felicitous pairing of author and venue — that her recent book tour included an evening at a Brooklyn church."
— Sarah Lyall, Salon, 27 April 2023

"[In the biblical story where Joshua tells the people of Israel to choose who they're going to serve,] Joshua was talking about loyalty—about who you've got to serve, in Bob Dylan's felicitous phrasing."
— Jay Michaelson, The Daily Beast, 5 November 2017

has this page helped you understand "felicitous"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "felicitous" without saying "fortunate" or "serendipitous."

try it out:

In Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life, John Gray wrote:

"Happiness is the state to which [cats] default when practical threats to their well-being are removed... That may be the chief reason many of us love cats. They possess as their birthright a felicity humans regularly fail to attain."

Talk about what he means, and whether or not you agree, based on the cats you've met. Do they possess a natural felicity (a natural sense of pure joy)? If so, is that why so many of us love them?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

This month, our game is "Smorgasbord of Wordly Lore!"

Try a trivia question each day. It’ll have something to do with a food or a drink. You can play on hard mode by answering the question cold, or play on easy mode by highlighting the multiple choice options. To see the correct answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today: The Turkish word for "breakfast," kahvalti, implies that the meal properly comes before a certain something. What is it?

Highlight below to reveal the multiple choice options.…
A. work
B. coffee
C. conversation

review this word:

1. Opposites of FELICITOUS include

A. SNEAKY, CONTRIVED, and UNSPONTANEOUS.
B. CREATIVE, BOISTEROUS, and FREE-SPIRITED.
C. DOWNHEARTED, INAPPROPRIATE, and BUMBLING.

2. When a writer for the New York Times referred to a "leafy terrace" as "a felicitous setting for an evening of sipping," they meant that the setting is _____.

A. absolutely perfect for a night of drinks
B. artificial but palatable for a night of drinks
C. a little too noisy for enjoying a night of drinks

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > FELICITOUS

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