Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state of being gladsome; joy; pleasure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The state of experiencing joy and pleasure.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic gladness

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun experiencing joy and pleasure

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

gladsome +‎ -ness

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Examples

  • Mellow and fluent though they be, the utterances are not indicative of gladsomeness nor of a sprightly disposition; nor are they songs.

    Last Leaves from Dunk Island 2003

  • The holy man was fearful lest so delicious an abode should enervate the minds of his disciples, that the vigor of their intellect, so requisite for penitential reflections, should become relaxed when surrounded by objects so pleasant to the senses; and lest that which inspired gladsomeness should make them lose the seriousness necessary in prayer, and deprive them of the spiritual delight which is felt therein.

    The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi Father Candide Chalippe

  • Of course they had every reason to carry that dreadful burden of sacrifice without very much gladsomeness in their hearts.

    Some Reflections on the War 1924

  • Men who see the misery and despair produced by capitalism think with joy of the days to come when the misery and despair are replaced by gladsomeness and hope.

    The Common Sense of Socialism A Series of Letters Addressed to Jonathan Edwards, of Pittsburg John Spargo 1921

  • The holy man was fearful lest so delicious an abode should enervate the minds of his disciples, that the vigor of their intellect, so requisite for penitential reflections, should become relaxed when surrounded by objects so pleasant to the senses; and lest that which inspired gladsomeness should make them lose the seriousness necessary in prayer, and deprive them of the spiritual delight which is felt therein.

    The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi Chalippe, Father Candide 1917

  • She played a little Nevin, played it with a lightness, gladsomeness, he had never felt in her touch before.

    The Glory of the Conquered The Story of a Great Love Susan Glaspell 1915

  • She played a little Nevin, played it with a lightness, gladsomeness, he had never felt in her touch before.

    The Glory of the Conquered The Story of a Great Love Susan Glaspell 1915

  • She played a little Nevin, played it with a lightness, gladsomeness, he had never felt in her touch before.

    The Glory of the Conquered The Story of a Great Love Susan Glaspell 1915

  • In these more sensuous moods he is so filled with the simple Chaucerian gladsomeness of spring that he can sing, or make one of his characters sing -- for after all, his characters are but so many sides of himself --

    Platform Monologues 1902

  • It was the gladsomeness of innocence that he had seen dancing in the moonlight.

    The Little Minister 1898

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