high-spirited
Americanadjective
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characterized by energetic enthusiasm, elation, vivacity, etc.
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boldly courageous; mettlesome.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- high-spiritedly adjective
- high-spiritedness noun
Etymology
Origin of high-spirited
First recorded in 1625–35
Vocabulary lists containing high-spirited
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.
These are high-spirited, action-oriented animals that also embrace new experiences, explains Lau.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026
Either way, the high-spirited jams are a throwback to a time when you still felt like clapping your hands, and maybe even saying “yeah. “
From Salon • Jun. 28, 2025
Lives lived: Seiji Ozawa, a high-spirited Japanese conductor who directed the Boston Symphony Orchestra for decades, died at 88.
From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2024
The event was scriptless, to honor a compromise with striking writers, but chock full of high-spirited Broadway performances drawing raucous cheers from an audience clearly thrilled to be there at all.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 12, 2023
The Ashidas were a part of the Holcomb community everyone appreciated—a family likably high-spirited, yet hard-working and neighborly and generous, though they didn’t have much to be generous with.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
