Jaunty means lively and pleased with yourself. A jaunty walk, a jaunty hat, jaunty and cheerful.
It describes bearing rather than mood — a jaunty angle on a hat says the wearer is enjoying themselves. It is warm and slightly old-fashioned. Note that the word comes from the French gentil, so jaunty, genteel, gentle and gentile are all the same word arriving by four routes.
1adjectivejauntyLively and pleased with yourself.
“He walked out of the interview with a jaunty step, sure he'd got the job.”
synonyms: sprightly, chirpy
jaunty is a quality of liveliness.
Jaunty comes from French gentil, well-born. Gentle, genteel and gentile are the same word arriving by other routes.
French
gentil
English, today
jaunty
Formerly spelt janty, from French gentil. See gentle, and compare genty. a doublet of genteel and gentile and gentle.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA