levity

\ˈlɛ.vɪ.ti\

/\ˈlɛ.vɪ.ti\/ noun

The verdict

“levity” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Légèreté (de manières) ; nonchalance ; manque de sérieux.

Corpus desk

Index FR-levity · levity · French

levity · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for levity
PropertyValue
Headwordlevity
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈlɛ.vɪ.ti\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « levity » en français

levitysiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

levity is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈlɛ.vɪ.ti\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for levity in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is levity, spelled L-E-V-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Légèreté (de manières) ; nonchalance ; manque de sérieux.
  2. 2
    Instabilité.
  3. 3
    Flottabilité, légèreté.
  4. 4
    Frivolité ; acte frivole.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how levity appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Hydrogen … rises in the air on account of its levity.
  2. For though it be something wonderful to tell that any should have hearts so hardened, in the midst of such a calamity, as to rob and steal, yet certain it is that all sorts of villainies, and even levities and debaucheries, were then practiced in the town as openly as ever: I will not say quite as frequently, because the number of people were many ways le…

Synonyms

lightnessthoughtlessnessairinessflippancyinstabilitybuoyancyfrivolité

Antonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "levity"?
"levity" is spelled L-E-V-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈlɛ.vɪ.ti\.
What does "levity" mean?
As a noun, "levity" means: Légèreté (de manières) ; nonchalance ; manque de sérieux.
How do you pronounce "levity"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "levity" is \ˈlɛ.vɪ.ti\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "levity" come from?
"levity" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list