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  1. sprightly love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Full of spirit and vitality; lively; brisk.
  2. adv. In a lively, animated manner.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Of or pertaining to a sprite or spirit; ghostly; spectral; incorporeal.
  2. Full of spirit or vigor; brisk; lively; vivacious; animated; spirited; gay.
  3. Synonyms See animation.
  4. In a sprightly manner; with vigor, liveliness, or gaiety.
  5. Having a lively, distinctive taste; not palling.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. animated, vivacious, or gay; lively
  2. adj. full of life and vigor, especially with a light and springy step
  3. adj. energetic and in good health
  4. adv. In a lively and vigorous way

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Sprightlike, or spiritlike; lively; brisk; animated; vigorous; airy; gay.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. full of spirit and vitality

Etymologies

  1. spright +‎ -ly (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “By this time I had my black wardrobe more or less together, and had learned not to say, “Well, hi there!” in sprightly tones.”

    margaret atwood | waterstone’s poetry lecture « poetry dispatch & other notes from the underground

  • “It was all "sprightly" -- that was Murray's tone -- but also it was cordial; and it referred to Thyrsis 'earlier novel, "The Hearer of Truth", as "that brilliant piece of work".”

    Love's Pilgrimage

  • “The letters contain many particulars of her life, together with many anecdotes hitherto unknown or forgotten, told with a saucy vivacity which is charming, and an air vividly recalling the sprightly, arch demeanour, and black, sparkling eyes of the fair Queen of Navarre.”

    Court Memoirs of France Series — Complete

  • “To frame a system which shall suit the condition of our country and the genius of its government, which shall develop the faculties of the mind and improve the good dispositions of the heart; which shall embrace in its views the rich and the poor, the dull and the sprightly is a work of great magnitude and requires details to give it efficacy, which the little time allowed to your committee”

    The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina; A Documentary History, 1790-1840. Vol. I

  • “To call Capote's profile of Brando "sprightly" is not too bright; if anything, this is the best single short piece of its kind, plus which Capote performed the near-impossible -- he got the normally guarded Brando to open up.”

    Tony Blair: The Next Labour Prime Minister?

  • “Peter Manso: erm, I was using "sprightly" as a compliment - as in, "energetic" etc.”

    Tony Blair: The Next Labour Prime Minister?

  • “Known for her "sprightly" comedies, Centlivre published a total of 19 plays in her lifetime, including The Busy Body (1709) and The”

    Editorial Notes to 'Letter to the Women of England'

  • “Small but vital: She hasn't thrown a shoe at me yet for calling her "sprightly," but maybe she should.”

    Archive 2008-12-01

  • “You know books, you know kids, I appreciate the fact that you have a homeschool group at the library, and I enjoy your "sprightly" writing not to mention the glimpses of the NYC I used to live in.”

    Give 'em the Old Razzle-Dazzle, Razzle-Dazzle 'em.

  • “Thomas's score, in fact, is largely responsible for keeping one interested through all this gothic silliness; the visuals suggest what the experience of one of Wallace's 1920s stage productions might have been like, but the score is aggressively modern and humorous, a kind of sprightly, big band funk with barely coherent Mantan Moreland-like vocals by Joe Quick It's COLD, man... lookit that MOON lookit that MOON!...”

    Archive 2006-04-23

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‘sprightly’ has been looked up 2556 times, loved by 9 people, added to 35 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 18.