zippy
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of zippy
Explanation
Zippy can mean speedy, or bright and spirited. You may wake up in a zippy mood, full of energy, and jump in your zippy little car so you can get to school early. When an object is zippy, it moves fast or energetically, like the zippy robotic vacuum cleaner that regularly terrifies your cat. And when people are zippy, they're spirited, like a zippy dance troupe. Language can be zippy too — think of wisecracking dialog or clever wordplay. This informal adjective comes from zip, "the sound of something moving rapidly."
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.
The economy expanded at zippy 4.4% annual pace in the third quarter of 2025, an updated estimate showed, to keep the U.S. on track to score the fifth straight year of above-average growth.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 22, 2026
HBM stands for high-bandwidth memory, a zippy, costly kind used for artificial intelligence.
From Barron's • Jan. 2, 2026
If your family leans wine, pick a single bottle that actually suits the meal: something crisp and acidic like a zippy Sauvignon Blanc, a light-bodied floral Beaujolais or even a gently funky orange wine.
From Salon • Nov. 25, 2025
But ultimately, the argument was a fabulous spectacle; zippy and podcast-y—the muscular elements of style that the powers that be assert the Democrats are missing.
From Slate • Nov. 19, 2025
The zippy whir of the trashman's small orb motor rose in pitch as he steered the boat out into the central channel of the river.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
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.
