jovial

[joh-vee-uhl]

adjective

1. endowed with or characterized by a hearty, joyous humor or a spirit of good-fellowship.

   a wonderfully jovial host.

   Synonyms: mirthful, joyful, gay, convivial, jolly, merry
   Antonyms: gloomy

2. (initial capital letter),  of or relating to the god Jove, or Jupiter.

jovial

/ ˈdʒəʊvɪəl /

adjective

1. having or expressing convivial humour; jolly

Other Word Forms

• jovially adverb
• jovialness noun
• unjovial adjective
• unjovially adverb
• joviality noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of jovial¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Medieval Latin joviālis “of Jupiter” (the planet, supposed to exert a happy influence), equivalent to Latin jovi- ( Jovian ) + -ālis -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of jovial¹

C16: from Latin joviālis of (the planet) Jupiter, considered by astrologers to foster good humour

Synonym Study

Jovial, jocose, jocular, jocund agree in referring to someone who is in a good humor. Jovial suggests a hearty, joyous humor: a jovial person. Jocose refers to that which causes laughter; it suggests someone who is playful and given to jesting: with jocose and comical airs. Jocular means humorous, facetious, mirthful, and waggish: jocular enough to keep up the spirits of all around him. Jocund, now a literary word, suggests a cheerful, light-hearted, and sprightly gaiety: glad and jocund company.

Example Sentences

José’s father, jovial, strong, always cracking jokes, landed in the hospital with a heart that doctors said was failing.

From Los Angeles Times

That sounds a lot like the way Carson lived, based on the way a 1978 New Yorker profile summed up the venerated host’s jovial froideur.

From Salon

He indicated his background was to blame for those comments, as a former greengrocer from Peckham working in an environment that was "jovial and crude".

From BBC

That lent a velveteen innocence to the jovial wreckage “The Osbournes” created and navigated almost constantly, although there were many times when what we saw clashed against the lighthearted sonic wallpaper.

From Salon

In Signal Hill, the mood among a handful of day laborers who were posted up on a patch of grass near a Home Depot on Tuesday afternoon was jovial and almost defiant.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• affable 
• amiable 
• buoyant 
• cheery 
• chipper 
• convivial 
• cordial 
• festive 
• good-natured 
• jolly 
• lighthearted 
• pleasant 
• sociable