merriment

Noun

merriment (countable and uncountable, plural merriments)

1. A state of enjoyable exuberance.
   • Hugh laughed again, and with such thorough abandonment to his mad humour, that his limbs seemed dislocated, and his whole frame in danger of tumbling to pieces; but Mr Tappertit, so far from receiving this extreme merriment with any irritation, was pleased to regard it with the utmost favour, and...1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge
   • It is recorded that this remarkable prophecy, now largely fulfilled, was received with much merriment—an undeserved fate.1955 November, G. Machell, “Railway Development at Aylesbury - 1”, in Railway Magazine, pages 741-742

   Synonyms:

   merriness, mirth, ardor, alacrity, celerity, energy, joie de vivre, enthusiasm, exuberance, exuberantness

2. Playful fun.
   • Alas poore Yorick […] VVhere be your Jibes now? Your Gambals? Your Songs? Your flaſhes of Merriment that were wont to ſet the Table on a Rore?c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
   • For to what purpose were it to clog our stomachs with dainties, junkets, and the like stuff, unless our eyes and ears, nay whole mind, were likewise entertained with jests, merriments, and laughter?1668, John Wilson, The Praise of Folly, translation of original by Desiderius Erasmus, published 1509