blithe
/blaɪð/adjective
blithe is spelled B-L-I-T-H-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, blithe means “Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in blithe?
| Letters | 6: B-L-I-T-H-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,192nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is blithe?
Blithe appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce blithe?
- US /blaɪð/
- US /blaɪθ/
Blithe has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-blithe.ogg, En-us-blithe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of blithe
- blither comparative
- blithest superlative
- blythe
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does blithe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant.
She had a blithe disregard of cultures outside the United States.
- 2
ScotlandCheerful, happy.
- 3
obsoleteFair, beautiful, comely; gracious, pleasant and attractive in manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Blithe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | indifférent, négligent , allègre, content, gai, joyeux |
| Spanish | indiferente , alegre, feliz |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does blithe come from?
From Middle English blithe (“glad, happy, joyful; causing joy, joyous; gentle, mild; gracious, merciful; bright, shining; beautiful, fair”) [and other forms], from Old English blīþe (“happy, gentle”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīþī, from Proto-Germanic *blīþiz (“friendly; gentle, mild; pleasing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlī- (“fine; light; pleasant”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny; white”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian bliede (“glad, cheerful, merry”), West Frisian bliid (“cheerful, glad”), Dutch blij (“happy”), German Low German blied (“happy, lucky”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).