spirited
Americanadjective
adjective
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displaying animation, vigour, or liveliness
-
(in combination) characterized by mood, temper, or disposition as specified
high-spirited
public-spirited
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spirited
Explanation
Someone who's spirited is lively or enthusiastic. It can be challenging to babysit a bunch of spirited four-year-olds, but it's also entertaining. You can also call a spirited person energetic, animated, or spunky. Spirited people are often determined, too, like a spirited activist for animal rights or a spirited defender of free school lunches. Long ago, this adjective was also used to mean "possessed by a spirit or ghost." Today's sense of spirited comes from the original meaning of the verb spirit, "to make more active."
Vocabulary lists containing spirited
This Week in Words: March 9 - 15, 2019
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The Red Pencil
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Put on a Bold Face: Synonyms for "Brave"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s been a spirited rebuttal to what’s felt like a counterattack on the inherent values of the World Cup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
You’ve never read a bird book like this one, written and illustrated in a spirit of determined awareness, augmenting facts with spirited play.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The olive brine at the bottom of the container after the last olive has been spirited away for cocktails and snack plates.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
Travelers will find world-famous barbecue, a thriving arts scene and spirited sports bars to watch the games.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
But if he saw or heard something he didn’t like, even if he had said it himself, the color would rise in his face and his nostrils flare like a spirited stallion’s.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
