vivid

[viv-id]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vivid ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

strikingly bright or intense, as color, light, etc.: a vivid green.

full of life; lively; animated: a vivid personality.

presenting the appearance, freshness, spirit, etc., of life; realistic: a vivid account.

strong, distinct, or clearly perceptible: a vivid recollection.

forming distinct and striking mental images: a vivid imagination.

Origin of vivid

1630–40; < Latin vīvidus lively, equivalent to vīv(ere) to live (see vital) + -idus -id⁴

Related formsviv·id·ly, adverbviv·id·ness, vi·vid·i·ty, nouno·ver·viv·id, adjectiveo·ver·viv·id·ly, adverbo·ver·viv·id·ness, nounun·viv·id, adjectiveun·viv·id·ly, adverbun·viv·id·ness, noun

Synonyms for vivid

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vivid ON THESAURUS.COM

1. bright, brilliant, intense. 2. spirited, vivacious, intense. 3. See picturesque.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for vividly

strongly, distinctly, graphically, intensely, strikingly, sharply, perceptibly, glowingly

Examples from the Web for vividly

Contemporary Examples of vividly

I vividly recall, that day and the weeks afterward, people groping for a decent way forward.
The Media's Pro-Torture Cheerleaders
Jedediah Purdy
December 10, 2014
On video, Raymond Santana was smug, boastful, and nonchalant by turns, vividly reenacting who did what during the rape.
The Myth of the Central Park Five
Edward Conlon
October 19, 2014
Has it not been vividly described in all its horror by Eli Wiesel and others?
How Hitch & Amis Discovered Evil In My House
Peter Foges
September 28, 2014
He vividly remembers Shirley Tilghman, then the president of Princeton, asking for his prediction.
Meet the One Numbers-Cruncher Who Foresees Democrats Holding the Senate
Linda Killian
September 16, 2014
His letters to them show how their predicament brought his own vividly back to him.
Why World War I Is at the Heart of ‘Lord of the Rings’
John Garth
July 29, 2014

Historical Examples of vividly

I vividly remember the first occasion on which I saw Bismarck.
Camps, Quarters and Casual Places
Archibald Forbes
It all came back to me vividly now and I tried to tell what I had seen.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
I saw the Tennyson funeral in the Abbey, and remember it vividly.
A Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume II
Mrs. Humphry Ward
How she works, how she studies, how she suffers, are vividly portrayed.
The Eternal City
Hall Caine
But piracy in the far future, when presented as vividly as in this story, can be scary stuff.
This One Problem
M. C. Pease

British Dictionary definitions for vividly

vivid

adjective

(of a colour) very bright; having a very high saturation or purity; produced by a pure or almost pure colouring agent

brilliantly colouredvivid plumage

conveying to the mind striking realism, freshness, or trueness to life; graphica vivid account

(of a recollection, memory, etc) remaining distinct in the mind

(of the imagination, etc) prolific in the formation of lifelike images

making a powerful impact on the emotions or sensesa vivid feeling of shame

uttered, operating, or acting with vigourvivid expostulations

full of life or vitalitya vivid personality

Derived Formsvividly, adverbvividness, noun

Word Origin for vivid

C17: from Latin vīvidus animated, from vīvere to live

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for vividly

vivid

adj.

1630s, from Latin vividus "spirited, animated, lively," from vivus "alive," from PIE *gwei- (see vital). Extension to colors is first recorded 1660s. Sense of "strong, distinct" (as of memories, etc.) is from 1680s; that of "very active or intense" (as of imagination, interest, etc.) is from 1853. Related: Vividly; vividness.