feisty

[ fahy-stee ]

adjective

, feist·i·er, feist·i·est.

1. full of animation, energy, or courage; spirited; spunky; plucky:

   The champion is faced with a feisty challenger.

2. ill-tempered; pugnacious.
3. troublesome; difficult:

   feisty legal problems.

feisty

/ ˈfaɪstɪ /

adjective

1. lively, resilient, and self-reliant
2. frisky
3. irritable

Other Words From

• feisti·ly adverb
• feisti·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of feisty¹

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900; feist + -y ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of feisty¹

C19: from dialect feist, fist small dog; related to Old English fīsting breaking wind

Example Sentences

Fans are drawn to the Sniffers’ sound and attitude, which taps into the rowdy spirit of first-generation punk rock, along with a feisty, euphoric blond singer moving nonstop and usually dressed in a bikini top and shorts.

From Los Angeles Times

Maybe her feisty grandmas on both sides, who were also anticipating this day, taught her that.

From Salon

He was no longer the feisty teen he’d been in 1993, when he was arrested on suspicion of an East Los Angeles gang murder he insisted he did not commit.

From Los Angeles Times

Laura Howard, mum to "cheeky and feisty" Tomos, four, said receiving his diagnosis after he was born felt "very much like a bereavement situation".

From BBC

And it’s so easy to be taken with these two warm, assured actors that the first hour of “We Live in Time” flies by, a procession of meet-cutes, feisty squabbles, passionate sex, sad faces, chocolate-covered biscuits being balanced on Alma’s pregnant belly in the bathtub and candles — so, so many candles.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bubbly
• courageous
• excitable
• fiery
• gritty
• gutsy
• high-strung
• lively
• scrappy
• spunky