spirited

[spir-i-tid]

adjective

1. having or showing mettle, courage, vigor, liveliness, etc..

   a spirited defense of poetry.

   Synonyms: mettlesome, courageous, vigorous, lively, energetic, active, ardent, vivacious, animated

spirited

/ ˈspɪrɪtɪd /

adjective

1. displaying animation, vigour, or liveliness

2. (in combination) characterized by mood, temper, or disposition as specified

   high-spirited

   public-spirited

Other Word Forms

• spiritedly adverb
• spiritedness noun
• nonspirited adjective
• nonspiritedly adverb
• nonspiritedness noun
• quasi-spirited adjective
• quasi-spiritedly adverb
• unspirited adjective
• unspiritedly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of spirited¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; spirit + -ed ³

Example Sentences

She’s a spirited but straightforward communicator who, like Mamdani, speaks about economic issues in a way that is both easy to understand and frankly fun.

Read more on Salon

The city had two decades of spirited opposition politics, which took off in the final years of British colonial rule and grew into a pro-democracy coalition in the 2010s before being wiped out.

Read more on Barron's

The fear is that they have already been spirited abroad, though the prosecutor in charge of the case has said she is still hopeful they can be retrieved intact.

Read more on BBC

In one of the stories, The Pinking Shears, the character is a spirited little girl called Jean Louie who gives a friend a haircut and faces the wrath of the child's father.

Read more on BBC

Or will this theft join the ranks of unsolved art heists, alongside the 1990 robbery that spirited away an estimated $500 million of paintings and sketches from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• animated 
• bold 
• bright 
• courageous 
• energetic 
• enthusiastic 
• fearless 
• fiery 
• gutsy 
• passionate 
• peppy 
• resolute 
• spunky 
• vigorous