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.
Since 1982, policymakers and prominent economists have gathered in this remote valley ringed by mountains in Grand Teton National Park -- known to most people more for its bison than for spirited debates on macroeconomics.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
If you, too, have abandoned bars of soap in your bathroom, Dan’s spirited and incredibly thorough reporting might just make you think twice the next time you stock up.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
Marra said he was "humbled" to be on the ballot and looked forward to a "good spirited and comradely contest".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The nerd didn’t quite get revenge, but actor Robert Carradine and Hans Stuck ran a spirited, back-and-forth race Sunday in the Bridgestone Potenza Supercar Race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
I had walked past her church before and heard music spilling from the falling-down clapboard building; the spirited singing and proclamations of joy emerging from it beat the other churches all hollow, to my mind.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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.
