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sprightly

Pronunciation: /ˈspɹaɪtli/

The English word “sprightly” has 5 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Animated, gay, or vivacious; lively, spirited.
  2. Of a person: full of life and vigour, especially with a light and springy step.
  3. Especially of an older person: energetic and in good health; spry.
  4. Of or relating to a sprite; ghostly, spectral.

adverb

  1. In a lively and vigorous way; sprightlily.

Etymology

From spright + -ly (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘behaving like, having the nature of’). Spright is an obsolete variant of sprite (“a shade, spirit; elf, fairy, goblin; apparition, ghost”), from Middle English sprit (“principle of life; soul, especially at the point of death; immaterial being (angel, demon, apparition, ghost, etc.); divine inspiration; Holy Spirit; the mind,…

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