# levity

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈlɛ.vɪ.ti/ · frequency rank #47,158

## Definitions
1. A lightness of manner or speech, frivolity; flippancy; a lack of appropriate seriousness; an inclination to make a joke of serious matters.
2. A lack of steadiness.
3. The state or quality of being light, buoyancy.
4. A lighthearted or frivolous act.

## Etymology
Coined in 1564, from Latin levitās (“lightness, frivolity”), from levis (“lightness (in weight)”). Cognate to lever, and more distantly, light.

## Easily confused with
- **levy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/levity-vs-levy)
- **Levi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/levi-vs-levity)
- **legit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/legit-vs-levity)
- **levin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/levin-vs-levity)
- **lefty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lefty-vs-levity)
- **Leith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leith-vs-levity)
- **laity** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/laity-vs-levity)
- **Levis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/levis-vs-levity)
- **Levine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/levine-vs-levity)
- **Levi's** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/levi-s-vs-levity)
- **Leavitt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leavitt-vs-levity)

## Common misspellings (9)
`elvity`, `leivty`, `levitty`, `levityy`, `leviyt`, `levtiy`, `levvity`, `llevity`, `lveity`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/levity