Word of the day · 17 August 2026
buoyant
/ˈbɔɪənt/
adjective
Able to float; cheerful and able to recover emotionally; or rising in value and confidence.
In a sentence
- Cork is buoyant enough to mark a fishing line.
- She stayed buoyant after the rejection and applied again.
- Retail sales looked buoyant through the holiday window.
In an image
Origin
From buoy plus -ant; buoy comes via Dutch or Old French from a Germanic root related to a signal float.
History
The floating sense came first with the nautical buoy. Figurative uses for high spirits and rising prices followed as English speakers stretched the image. Economists still speak of buoyant demand when activity lifts. The word keeps a physical metaphor even in talk about mood.
Nearby words
afloat · upbeat · resilient
Lift in water, mood or markets.