different between alacritous vs alacrity

English

Adjective

alacritous (comparative more alacritous, superlative most alacritous)

1. (rare) Brisk, speedy, with alacrity, quick and eager.

Anagrams

• lactosuria

English

Etymology

Coined between 1500 and 1510 from Latin alacrit?s, from alacer (“brisk”) + -itas (“-ity”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: ?-l?'cr?-t?, IPA^(key): [??læk??ti]

Noun

alacrity (countable and uncountable, plural alacrities)

1. Eagerness; liveliness; enthusiasm.

   Synonyms: avidity, eagerness, enthusiasm, willingness

   Antonyms: apathy, disinclination, hesitance, indifference, reluctance

   • 1553 (posth.), Thomas More, A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, Book I, Chapter 19:

     Besides, a wealthy man, well at ease, may pray to God quietly and merrily with alacrity and great quietness of mind, whereas he who lieth groaning in his grief cannot endure to pray nor can he hardly think upon anything but his pain.

   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act V, sc. 3:

     I have not that alacrity of spirit

     Nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have.

   • 1920, Edward Arlington Robinson, The Three Taverns, "Tasker Norcross":

     You have an overgrown alacrity

     For saying nothing much and hearing less […]
2. Promptness; speed.

   Synonyms: briskness, celerity, haste, promptness, quickness, swiftness

   • 1849, Henry David Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience":

     Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way.

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