How is alacrity used in a sentence?
How is alacrity used in a sentence?
3 Answers
Hola!
If you were standing in the rain getting wet, waiting for your friend to unlock a door for which he had the keys, you might say, "With alacrity, please!" to mean, "Hurry up!".
You could also say something like, "When my friend offered me tickets to the football game, I accepted with alacrity," which means you were keen to accept the invitation because you really wanted to see the match.
It's a formal word, that I don't hear often in everyday speech.
alacrity mass noun (formal or literary) presteza f (liter), prontitud f (frml)
Webster's dictionary gives it as promptness of response; cheerful readiness, and the example illustrating a case of a prompt, cheerful ready response:
(He or she) accepted the invitation with alacrity - exactly as in Martyn's cheerful response, also provided to you with alacrity!
By the way, a mass noun, I have learned, is a noun that names things that cannot be counted. So alacrity would only ever be used in the singular.
For fun I looked for the opposite. Sentences with the Spanish words that can mean alacrity.
Acudió con presteza.
Se agradece la prontitud en el pago. (frml) Prompt payment would be appreciated.
(what Martyn said) ... and in every example I can think of, it follows "with". 
