spirited
Americanadjective
adjective
-
displaying animation, vigour, or liveliness
-
(in combination) characterized by mood, temper, or disposition as specified
high-spirited
public-spirited
Other Word Forms
- nonspirited adjective
- nonspiritedly adverb
- nonspiritedness noun
- quasi-spirited adjective
- quasi-spiritedly adverb
- spiritedly adverb
- spiritedness noun
- unspirited adjective
- unspiritedly adverb
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.
This family did not survive, but a photo Ms. Gerson found revealed a spirited little boy who looked almost exactly like Ms. Inlender’s father.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
Rodriguez took power in January when her former boss, Nicolas Maduro, was captured by US forces and spirited to the United States to face trial.
From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026
A spirited critique on his Twitch stream of this year’s ball change at Indian Wells recently went viral.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2026
Newcastle may have been feeling the effects of playing with 10 men for so long in a spirited midweek win against Manchester United.
From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026
But as it happened, Lexie and Trip were so involved in a spirited argument over which guest had better hair, the drag queen or his embittered ex-wife, that no one heard the commercials.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
