sprite
Americannoun
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sprites
plural
noun
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(in folklore) a nimble elflike creature, esp one associated with water
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a small dainty person
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an icon in a computer game which can be manoeuvred around the screen by means of a joystick, etc
Synonym Usage
See fairy.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sprite
1400–1450; Middle English sprit, spreit, from Anglo-French spirit(e), Old French esprit, espirit(e), from Latin spīritus spirit
Explanation
A sprite is a spirit, a mythical, fairy-like creature who lives by the water. Sprites are supernatural and sometimes tricksy. Sprites are particularly common Western European folk tales, and one of the most famous literary sprites is Ariel from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Elves and fairies can be described as sprites, and so can the water nymphs from Ancient Greek mythology. Sprite comes from the Old French esprit, or "spirit," and the Latin root spiritus. An older alternate spelling, now obsolete, was spright, which led to the adjective sprightly, "animated or lively."
Vocabulary lists containing sprite
A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Artemis Fowl
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Mythology
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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.
See Examples For:
He told us tales of big brinjals, bright pumpkin flowers, sprite okra that grew in the farmland in what’s now Bangladesh, where he grew up.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
Local drag artist Adam Carver, also known as Fatt Butcher, plays the quick-witted sprite Puck, and admitted that they brought some of their drag persona to the role.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
When Messi and team arrived, the sprite with all the ingenuity had scored six goals in World Cups yet none in any knockout rounds.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 17, 2022
He trained in improvisational and sketch comedy at Toronto’s Second City, where the prancing oddball sprite Ed Grimley was born onstage, and as a cast member of “SCTV” and “Saturday Night Live.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2022
A thrill ran through Taisin as she heard Mona describe the sprite.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
Her near life-size ceramic figures of animals, sprites and fairy-tale heroines in moments of frozen intimacy are prickly and emotional in a way that’s hard to get over.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
The setting suits Martin, who exudes a kind of wry wood sprite energy, if wood sprites wore black T-shirts and khakis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
Scientists can also use the crowdsourced power of everyday people looking at the sky to better understand other known-but-rare atmospheric phenomena, of which there are plenty, such as red sprites and hole-punch clouds.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 15, 2022
The monochrome look of the original Game Boy is crisp and clear, but it especially shines when you’re playing color games where you can really see the sprites pop.
From The Verge ● Dec. 13, 2021
Her dress is soaked, dripping as she moves, like the dresses of water sprites or sea nymphs.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
