velleity

Related to velleity: ambivert

vel·le·i·ty

(vĕ-lē′ĭ-tē, və-)

n. pl. vel·le·i·ties

1. Weak desire or volition.

2. A slight or weak wish or inclination: "He felt cast out ... divorced from the caprices and the velleities of childhood" (Anita Brookner).

[New Latin velleitās, from Latin velle, to wish; see wel- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

velleity

(vɛˈliːɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. the weakest level of desire or volition

2. a mere wish

[C17: from New Latin velleitās, from Latin velle to wish]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vel•le•i•ty

(vəˈli ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. volition in its weakest form.

2. a mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it.

[1610–20; < New Latin velleitās= Latin velle to be willing + -itās -ity]

velleity

- Describes a mild desire, wish, or urge that is too slight to lead to action.

velleity

a very weak or slight impulse of the will; a mere fancy that does not lead to action.

See also: Will

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	velleity - a mere wish, unaccompanied by effort to obtain wish, wishing, want - a specific feeling of desire; "he got his wish"; "he was above all wishing and desire"
	2.	velleity - volition in its weakest form volition, will - the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention; "the exercise of their volition we construe as revolt"- George Meredith

Translations

Velleität

velleità

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References in periodicals archive ?

novel is a velleity that survives one's moral failures resulting

"Arabesques of the Final Pattern": Len Deighton's Hard-Boiled Espionage Fiction

We are left with the question: Was his frequent and forceful advocacy of a wider and more equal distribution sincere, or was he merely paying lip service to the principle of laissez-faire, or uttering a modish velleity? Did his reluctance to propose specific redistribution measures amount to a renunciation or self-contradictory denial of his arguments for wider distribution?

Malthus on Growth, Glut, and Redistribution

To gain such perspectives without velleity or violence, entirely from the felt contact with its objects--this alone is the task of thought.

Western Art and Jewish Presence in the Work of Paul Celan

2--for treatment of the backbite vices attribute, two ways of brief and detailed, for treatment of lie, language imprisonment and speech evaluation; for treatment of traduce, kick back to velleity and back to wisdom and intellect; for the treatment of slander, not listening to the words of each speaker and avoidance of mistrust and a good withdraw; for the treatment of flap about, refering to flap about finally; for the treatment of profanity, remembering the resurrection and thought; for the treatment of ridicule, sequel to this attribute has been proposed by imam imam, peace be upon him.

Investigation of linguistic vices in Nahjul Balagha

"Some time ago, I read this term somewhere called velleity. It's the will and desire to do something but not enough action to ever back it up.

Being Cyrus

If they were puzzling, they were also solid enough--characterful--to deflect the banal velleity that there be a solution-code.

from Practice

To gain such perspectives without velleity or violence, entirely from felt contact with its objects--this alone is the task of thought.

International theory and the problem of sustainable critique: an Adornian-Biblical parable

In an article published in the July 6 New York Times, Wilson had violated the neoconservative one-percent doctrine: If Saddam Hussein ever entertained the merest velleity of attacking our country, we had to invade Iraq and utterly obliterate his regime.