sprightly
adjEtymology
From spright + -ly (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘behaving like, having the nature of’). Spright is an obsolete variant of sprite (“a shade, spirit; elf, fairy, goblin; apparition, ghost”), from Middle English sprit (“principle of life; soul, especially at the point of death; immaterial being (angel, demon, apparition, ghost, etc.); divine inspiration; Holy Spirit; the mind, intellect, reason; mental faculties, senses; power of prophecy; character, disposition; courage, resolution; mood, state of mind; human will; breath; (alchemy) volatile substance”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman esprite, esprit and Middle French esprit, variants of Anglo-Norman, Middle French, Old French espirit, esperit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus (“air; breath; breathing; ghost, spirit”), from spīrō (“to breathe; to breathe out, exhale”) (from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow; to breathe”)) + -tus (“suffix forming verbal nouns from verbs”).
- derived from espirit
- derived from esprit
- derived from esprite
- inherited from sprit — “principle of life; soul, especially at the point of death; immaterial being (angel, demon, apparition, ghost, etc.); divine inspiration; Holy Spirit; the mind, intellect, reason; mental faculties, senses; power of prophecy; character, disposition; courage, resolution; mood, state of mind; human will; breath; (alchemy) volatile substance”
Definitions
Animated, gay, or vivacious
Animated, gay, or vivacious; lively, spirited.
- Next vnto lumpish Saturn, sprightlie Iove / Moves in his orbe.
- [B]y the Path-way green, / A ſprightlie Troupe ſtill onward heedleſſe ſped, / In Chace of Butterflies alert and keen; / Honours, and Wealth, and Powre, their Butterflies I ween.
Of a person
Of a person: full of life and vigour, especially with a light and springy step.
- Shall our example ſloth create, / And make our Sons degenerate? / Our ſprightly youth uſeleſs in War become, / And ſleep in peace and ſlavery at home.
- This youth was ance a sprightlie boy / As ever lived in Linne.
Of or relating to a sprite
Of or relating to a sprite; ghostly, spectral.
- […] As I ſlept, me thought / Great Iupiter vpon his Eagle back'd / Appear'd to me, with other ſprightly ſhewes / Of mine owne Kindred.
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In a lively and vigorous way
In a lively and vigorous way; sprightlily.
The neighborhood
- neighborsprightful
- neighborsprightless
- neighborsprightness
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for sprightly. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA