sprightly
Americanadjective
adverb
adjective
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sprightly
Explanation
To be sprightly is to be full of youthful, vibrant energy. You don’t have to be young to be sprightly, though, energetic old people can be sprightly, too. Weeeeeee! The word sprightly comes from the word sprite, which is a small, elf-like fairy creature. If someone acts like a happy little fairy, has a lot of enthusiasm, and acts in a youthful way, she’s sprightly. To be sprightly is to be full of spirit and vitality, to be happy, and to have a positive attitude. Someone who radiates energy and positivity is sprightly.
Vocabulary lists containing sprightly
Things Fall Apart
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Smiley Face: Synonyms for "Happy"
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Stargirl
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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.
Sprightly and trim at 83, Kelvin described a can-do culture that produced the 747 in the 1960s, an attitude he credits to inspirational upper management led by Sutter, the chief engineer.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 29, 2023
Sprightly and small-figured, speaking with an elder’s even command at 89 years old, Esparza is one of the most revered visual folk artists in California, if not the country.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 31, 2021
Sprightly despite his 90 years, Impagliazzo is known as Rome’s “chef of the poor”.
From Reuters • Feb. 6, 2020
Sprightly Over the last five years, the designer Guillaume Henry has considerably freshened the house of Carven, and this jeune dame, now robust, has dropped her valise in SoHo.
From New York Times • Mar. 25, 2014
Sprightly, she walked back to the wide thoroughfare near the park.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
