sprightly

  • 1Sprightly — Spright ly ( l[y^]), a. [Compar. {Sprightlier} ( l[i^]*[ e]r); superl. {Sprightliest}.] [See {Sprite}.] Sprightlike, or spiritlike; lively; brisk; animated; vigorous; airy; gay; as, a sprightly youth; a sprightly air; a sprightly dance. Sprightly …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2sprightly — [sprīt′lē] adj. sprightlier, sprightliest [< spright, var. of SPRITE + LY1] full of energy and spirit; lively, brisk, etc. adv. sprightlier, sprightliest in a sprightly manner SYN. AGILE …

    English World dictionary

  • 3sprightly — index alert (agile), jocular, resilient, volatile Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 4sprightly — 1590s, from spright, early 16c. variant of SPRITE (Cf. sprite), + LY (Cf. ly) (1) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5sprightly — *lively, animated, vivacious, gay Analogous words: *active, live, dynamic: *agile, nimble, brisk, spry: *merry, blithe, jocund …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 6sprightly — [adj] fun, vivacious active, agile, airy, alert, animate, animated, blithe, bouncy, breezy, bright, brisk, cheerful, cheery, chipper, chirpy, clever, dapper, dashing, energetic, fairylike, frolicsome, gay, good, grooving, hyper, jaunty, jolly,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 7sprightly — (also spritely) ► ADJECTIVE (sprightlier, sprightliest) ▪ (especially of an old person) lively; energetic. DERIVATIVES sprightliness noun. ORIGIN from spright, a rare variant of SPRITE(Cf. ↑sprite) …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8sprightly — UK [ˈspraɪtlɪ] / US adjective Word forms sprightly : adjective sprightly comparative sprightlier superlative sprightliest a) a sprightly person is healthy and has a lot of energy b) used about things that are done with a lot of energy sprightly… …

    English dictionary

  • 9sprightly — adjective (sprightlier; est) Etymology: obsolete spright (sprite), alteration of sprite Date: 1596 1. marked by a gay lightness and vivacity ; spirited < a sprightly musical > 2. having a distinctively piquant taste ; zesty …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 10sprightly — spright|ly [ spraıtli ] adjective a sprightly person is healthy and has a lot of energy a. used about things that are done with a lot of energy: sprightly enthusiasm …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English