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.
See Examples For:
Little gets disclosed about his health, even when he’s sprightly enough to play.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
It was not just Bora -- police were also seen struggling to catch up with sprightly young protesters on streets.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
The Oracle of Omaha made that remark a quarter-century ago, when he was a sprightly 71-year-old.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Its cast is exactly the sprightly ensemble needed to land its what-if laughs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
The tall man, the repeater, spoke sprightly, convinced of America, America.
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
Likewise, after 2024’s narratively dreary “Wicked,” returning director Jon M. Chu persuades us to come back to Oz for this smarter, sprightlier follow-up that’s all about the pageantry of propaganda.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025
In all-wheel-drive form, the RDX is a bit sprightlier around corners than the GV70.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2022
“I haven’t been home in a couple of weeks,” he says, sounding sprightlier than you might expect.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 5, 2020
At fifty-two, she is sprightlier than her more serious work suggests, a quality that helps earn the trust of her subjects, whether in Africa or in coal country.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 20, 2017
Miss Whitlaw seemed to lose ten years and become sprightlier.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
And the rhythmic and harmonic quirkiness of the two Contredanses made the sprightliest movements in the Bach, Handel and Muffat works sound staid.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2011
In a disapproving review last week, Conservative Columnist William F. Buckley Jr. accused Reeves of exaggeration but nonetheless placed him "among the two or three sprightliest political writers in America."
From Time Magazine Archive
Mary is Debbie Reynolds, giving one of her sprightliest performances as the wickedly witty, nearly divorced wife of Publisher Barry Nelson, who repeats his stage role in sharp, swinging style.
From Time Magazine Archive
The whole show pokes fun at auto-mania, is one of the sprightliest in the transportation area.
From Time Magazine Archive
In his easiest and sprightliest sallies were tokens of a mind habituated to profound and extensive views.
From Ormond, Volume II (of 3) or, The Secret Witness by Charles Brockden Brown
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
