Blithe means cheerful in a way that ignores real trouble. Happy, and not paying attention.
The original sense was simply merry, and it survives in blithe spirit, but the modern word has picked up carelessness, which is why blithe disregard and blithe indifference are the commonest uses and neither is a compliment. The adverb blithely is even more loaded, since blithely ignoring a warning is what somebody does just before the consequences arrive. It is formal and slightly literary.
1adjectiveblitheCheerfully unconcerned about something that should be taken seriously.
“There was a blithe disregard for the safety rules.”
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰel-
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰlī- — fine; light; pleasant
Proto-Germanic
*blīþiz — friendly; gentle, mild; pleasing
Proto-West Germanic
*blīþī
Old English
blīþe — happy, gentle
Middle English
blithe — glad, happy, joyful; causing joy, joyous; gentle, mild; gracious, merciful; bright, shining; beautiful, fair
English, today
blithe
From Middle English blithe (“glad, happy, joyful; causing joy, joyous; gentle, mild; gracious, merciful; bright, shining; beautiful, fair”)blide, bligh, bliht, blith, bliðe, bliþ, bliþe, bliȝe, blyde, blyth, blythe, blyþe, from Old English blīþe (“happy, gentle”), from Proto-West Germanic blīþī, from Proto-Germanic blīþiz (“friendly; gentle, mild; pleasing”), from Proto-Indo-European bʰlī- (“fine; light; pleasant”), from Proto-Indo-European bʰel- (“shiny; white”). Cognate with stq bliede (“glad, cheerful, merry”), West Frisian bliid (“cheerful, glad”), Dutch blij (“happy”), German Low German blied (“happy, lucky”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 7 of A Man Called Ove.
Practise this word