Here's the comedian Louis CK, who flies first class:

"Every time that I see a soldier on a plane, I always think, you know what? I should give him my seat. It would be the right thing to do, it would be easy to do, and it would mean a lot to him. I could go up to him and be like, 'Hey, son (I get to call him "son"), hey, son, go ahead and take my seat.' [...] I never have. Let me make that clear. I've never done it once. I've had so many opportunities. I never even really, seriously came close. And here's the worst part. I still just enjoy the fantasy for myself. I was actually proud of myself for having thought of it. I was proud. Ah, I am such a sweet man. That is so nice of me to think of that and then totally never do it."

That's a velleity for you: the tiniest little desire or compulsion that then fizzles out into nothing.

That weird little word velleity is cousins with lots of words that have to do with wishing, hoping, and willing, like will, volition, volunteer, m___volent ("wishing bad on others") and its precise opposite b___volent ("wishing well for others"), and willy-nilly and its distinguished Latin synonym no____ vol____ (two words, meaning "willing or unwilling").

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

definition:

"Velleity" is a rare word in English that traces back to the Latin word velle, meaning "to will, to wish."

Since the 1600s, someone's velleity has been a small, passive desire to do something, but that person never makes ANY effort to actually do it.

For example, in Shrek II, Shrek accepts some fine clothes from strangers and then takes off, waving grandly and saying "Thank you, gentlemen! Someday, I will repay you. Unless, of course, I can't find you or if I forget." That's Shrek's velleity for repayment: a brief urge to repay the strangers' kindness, with absolutely no follow-through.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, both the countable kind ("I'm still laughing at their velleities") and the uncountable kind ("I'm still laughing at their velleity").

Other forms:

The plural is "velleities."

how to use it:

Pick the weird, rare, stuffy, old-fashioned word "velleity" when you want to sound precise and dismissive as you point out how someone just barely wants to do something, often something noble, but doesn't put forth any effort to do it.

Like we do with the nouns "wish" and "desire," we talk about someone's velleity for something (as in "the comedian's velleity for honoring the soldier" and "Shrek's velleity for repaying the strangers' kindness"), or someone's velleity to do something (as in "the comedian's velleity to honor the soldier" and "Shrek's velleity to repay the strangers' kindness").

We also talk about someone's velleity toward something, as in "the comedian's velleity toward honoring soldiers" and "Shrek's velleity toward repaying the strangers' kindness."

And we talk about people overcoming velleity: actually getting it together and getting stuff done.

But to reiterate an important point: your listeners are highly unlikely to know what a velleity is. If you can provide enough context to clarify the meaning, then, cool. If not, it's probably better to pick a more familiar word, like "whim."

examples:

"My novelist's obsession with neatness is a velleity, after all."
  — D. Keith Mano, New York Times, 23 February 1992

"'If ever I do [publish] a book,' he says, 'which God forbid, trade being what it is, it will be a ramshackle, tumbledown, bone-shaker, held together with bits of twine, and at the same time as innocent of the slightest velleity of coming unstuck as Mr. Wright's original flying-machine that could never be persuaded to leave the ground.'''
  — Samuel Beckett, Dream of Fair to Middling Women, 1932

has this page helped you understand "velleity"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

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

study it:

Explain the meaning of "velleity" without saying "passing whim" or "slightest intention."

try it out:

Sometimes I'm inspired by some velleity to do something, like make a digital copy of my granddad's hardbound autobiography. So then I procure what I need, in this case an oversized scanner... and then the velleity fizzles out and I haven't gotten anything done. I'm really trying to break that habit. It's so wasteful.

Could you describe a recent velleity of your own? Did you waste any time or money on it before it fizzled out?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

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.

Our game this month is "Alliterate a Little; It'll Lift It."

I'll give you a phrase that doesn't alliterate, and you'll make it alliterate by changing one or both words—while preserving, as best you can, the meaning of the original. 

For example: A car that demands too much fuel is a "gas guzzler." But what alliterative term could you invent for a dishwasher that demands too much detergent?

You could call it a "soap slurper," or a "detergent devourer."

Try this one today...

It's grand to talk about "friends forever." But, what alliterative term could you invent for a "casual acquaintance:" someone you know only a tiny bit?

To see one possible answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of a VELLEITY could be

A. a jaggedly carved SCULPTURE.
B. a ruggedly handsome VILLAIN.
C. a doggedly pursued AMBITION.

2. In the New Yorker, Brendan Gill complained that for some novelists, "the indispensable will to create life has _____ to a _____ velleity."

A. risen .. sanctimonious
B. shrunk .. mere querulous
C. metastasized .. cancerous

Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. B From the game: Any alliterative label you came up with is great! Mine is "potential pal."

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: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. 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.