Jaunty

//ˈd͡ʒɔːn.ti// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A master-at-arms onboard a Royal Navy ship.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Airy; showy; finical.
  2. 2
    Characterized by an affected or fantastical manner. broadly
  3. 3
    Dapper or stylish.

    "He wore a jaunty outfit that was all the rage."

  4. 4
    Ostentatiously self-confident.

    "He walked down the street with a jaunty swaggering step, as if daring others less perfectly satisfied to intrude upon his good mood."

Adjective
  1. 1
    having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air wordnet
  2. 2
    marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A traditional nickname for a Royal Navy master-at-arms

Synonyms

All synonyms
dashinga la modeairyblithebravebravura

Example

More examples

"He wore a jaunty coat of chocolate-colored velvet, with diamond buttons, and with two huge pockets which were always filled with bones, dropped there at dinner by his loving mistress."

Etymology

Formerly spelt janty, from French gentil. See gentle, and compare genty. Doublet of genteel, gentile, and gentle.

Related phrases

jaunty carself confident

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.