Vivaciousness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being lively, animated, and full of energy in manner or spirit
2. The state of exhibiting lively, spirited, and energetic behavior or personality with keen enthusiasm and vitality
3. An attribute characterized by animated liveliness, exuberance, and dynamic energy in one's demeanor and engagement with life

Etymology: Vivaciousness is a plain formation: the adjective "vivacious" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn a quality into a noun. The adjective comes from the Latin "vivax," meaning long-lived or lively, and that root traces back to "vivere," to live. So the noun is, at bottom, a label for the state of being full of life. The suffix does most of the work here. "-ness" is one of English's oldest noun-making endings, descended from Old English "-nes," and it has been attached to native and borrowed adjectives alike since the Middle English period. Its job is to turn a description into a thing you can point to: "kindness," "darkness," and now "vivaciousness" all name the quality of being whatever the adjective says.

Synonyms: enthusiasm, animation

Antonyms: dullness, apathy