levity

lightness, especially in mood

Root

  • lev: lift, lighten, or make less heavy

Other words with the lev root

  • alleviate: to make pain or trouble less severe
  • elevate: to lift up or raise in rank
  • elevator: machine that lifts people or things

Lev gives light. Levity is lightness of mood when the room has grown too heavy.

A little levity made the long review session bearable without making it unserious.

Levity can rescue a tense room, or it can be badly timed. The key is lightness: a joke, smile, or playful turn that lifts the emotional weight.

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