Wags

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A swift motion typically associated with tails or similar appendages that signifies excitement or eagerness
2. A friendly gesture characterized by rapid side-to-side movements most commonly observed in animals
3. A quick movement usually associated with a tail indicating happiness or anticipation can also refer to a playful or enthusiastic gesture made in delight

Etymology: The plural "wags" is simply the noun form of "wag," and the verb it comes from is a close relative of a word that means "way." The verb sense of quick tail movement is probably the older core of the family, and the noun followed from it. Old Norse had "vagga," meaning "cradle," and Swedish "vagga" and Danish "vugge" both mean "to rock a cradle," so the same root produced words for gentle swaying motion across the North Sea languages. The English verb is best understood as an iterative or emphatic form of an older word meaning "to move," which was often nearly synonymous with it. Early English writers used it of a loose tooth, a sense that shows how easily it captured small, repeated back-and-forth motion. Dutch "wagen," meaning "to move," and German dialect "wacken," meaning "to waver" or "totter," belong to the same family of wobbling and swaying words.

Synonyms: jokers, clowns, funnymen, comedians, humorists

Antonyms: serious people, stoics, killjoys, sober individuals, grumps