Jauntiness

A cheerful, lively, and casually confident quality.

Reach for it when naming buoyant style in movement, dress, music, or manner

The tune's jauntiness made even the tired walkers smile.

• playful

  pep

  brisk cheerful energy should sound informal

  not when Pep can sound juvenile and omits the stylish quality.

• everyday

  liveliness

  visible animation is the broad quality

  not when Liveliness can be restless and lacks jauntiness's confident style.

• warm

  cheerfulness

  good spirits are the defining impression

  not when Cheerfulness can be quiet and carries no jaunty swagger.

• formal

  buoyancy

  emotional or rhythmic lightness keeps the effect afloat

  not when Buoyancy is gentler and says little about fashionable informality.

• formal

  panache

  confident stylish flair commands attention

  not when Panache is more sophisticated and less innocent than jauntiness.

• literary

  sprightliness

  light energetic movement suits traditional prose

  not when Sprightliness is rare and can sound patronizing about age.

• heaviness
• gloom
• timidity

• touch of jauntiness

  The tilted brim added a touch of jauntiness to the costume.

• rhythmic jauntiness

  Rhythmic jauntiness kept the march light on its feet.

• jauntiness of manner

  Her jauntiness of manner relaxed the room without trivializing the news.

• Jaunty adj.
• Jauntily adv.

Jauntiness can suggest affected confidence or inadequate seriousness.