Jovial Meaning

/ˈd͡ʒəʊ.vɪ.əl/
C1

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjCheerful and good-humoured; jolly, merry.

adjPertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see sense 1).

He's a jovial man.
But these jovial sounds fell sadly on the ear of the ruined nobleman.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
His naturally ____ personality made everyone laugh at the party last night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The party was a ____ event, with plenty of good food, upbeat music, and very happy conversations.

First attested in 1590; borrowed from Middle French jovial (“under the influence of Jupiter; of Jove; jovial, jolly”), from Italian gioviale (“(now obsolete) born under the influence of the planet Jupiter”) (attested in Dante, Paradiso, canto XVIII, early 14th century), from Late Latin Ioviālis (“relating to the Roman god Jupiter”), from Iuppiter, Iovis (“the Roman god Jove or Jupiter, counterpart of the Greek god Zeus”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“to be bright; heaven, sky”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship); analysable as Jove + -ial. Sense 1 (“cheerful and good-humoured”) refers to the fact that individuals born under the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter were believed to have that disposition.

"A melancholy boddy is not the kindeſt nurſe for a chearely minde, (the joviall complexion is ſoverainly beholding to nature,) […]" — 1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London]: [s.n.], [1870], →OCLC, page 161:
"The moſt ſecure, happy, Ioviall & merry in the worlds eſteeme, are Princes & great men, free from melancholy, but for their cares, miſeries, ſuſpicions, Iealoſies, diſcontents, folly, & madneſſe, I referre you to Xenophons Tyrannus, where king Hieron diſcourſeth at large with Simonides the Poet, of this ſubject." — 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Democritvs Ivnior to the Reader”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, page 57:
"But being ill-used by the above-mentioned widow, he was very serious for a year and a half; and though, his temper being naturally jovial, he at last got over it, he grew careless of himself, and never dressed afterwards." — 1711 March 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, March 2, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 2; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 88:
"[I]n polite ſocieties, he is the eaſy, well-bred man of faſhion; and, in the more convivial parties, he is the jovial companion." — 1790 August, “Art V. The Devil upon Two Sticks in England: Being a Continuation of Le Diable Boiteux of Le Sage. 12mo. 4 Vols. about 230 Pages in each. 12s. Sewed. Walter, Piccadilly. 1790. [book review]”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume II, London: Printed for R[alph] Griffiths; and sold by T[homas] Becket, […], →OCLC, page 392:
"At length, my friends, the feaſt of life is o’er; / I’ve eat ſufficient, I can drink no more: / My nigh is come; I’ve ſpent a jovial day; ’Tis time to part; but, oh!—what is to pay?" — 1797, Richard Graves, “On the Death of an Epicure”, in Select Epigrams. In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Printed by and for Sampson Low, […]; and sold by W. H. Lunn, […], →OCLC, page 31:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
His naturally ____ personality made everyone laugh at the party last night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The party was a ____ event, with plenty of good food, upbeat music, and very happy conversations.

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