Meaning & use
felicity
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Meanings
noununcountableliterary
Deep and lasting happiness.
Grammar: Usually without an article: they lived in felicity.
The couple wished the newlyweds a lifetime of felicity.
The poem celebrates quiet domestic felicity.
She spoke of the felicity of a summer evening.
noununcountableformal
A well-chosen, graceful way of expressing something.
Grammar: Often found in felicity of expression.
Patterns
- felicity of expression
The critic praised the felicity of her phrasing.
He wrote with great felicity and ease.
Word forms
| plural | felicities |
|---|
Common combinations
- marital felicity
- The poem describes marital felicity.
- felicity of expression
- The felicity of expression made the speech memorable.
- domestic felicity
- The painting shows domestic felicity.
- wish someone felicity
- They wished her felicity in her new life.
- felicity of style
- The felicity of style set the author apart.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bliss
- Bliss is intense joy, whereas felicity suggests calm and lasting contentment.
- happiness
- Happiness is the everyday word, and felicity sounds more elevated.
- grace
- Grace, in writing, means elegance, but felicity also means a fitting word choice.
- aptness
- Aptness means being suitable but does not carry the happy overtone.
Opposites
Word family
- felicitous adjective
- well chosen or fitting
- felicitously adverb
- in a fitting way
- felicitate verb
- to congratulate (formal)
- infelicity noun
- an unfortunate or poorly chosen expression
Commonly confused: felicity or Felicity? felicity or facility?
felicity vs Felicity
Felicity is also a girl's name, which is unrelated to the noun in sentences.
felicity vs facility
Facility means a place or ease in doing something, a different word.
Practice
The critic admired the ___ of her wording, which fitted every moment perfectly.
Choose one answer.
Felicity of wording means a graceful and apt choice of words. Severity, brevity and obscurity do not suggest fitting elegance.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “felicity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.