vigor
Americannoun
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active strength or force.
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healthy physical or mental energy or power; vitality.
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energetic activity; energy; intensity.
The economic recovery has given the country a new vigor.
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force of healthy growth in any living matter or organism, as a plant.
-
active or effective force, especially legal validity.
Other Word Forms
- vigorless adjective
Etymology
Origin of vigor
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English vigo(u)r, from Anglo-French; Middle French vigeur, from Latin vigor “force, energy,” from vig(ēre) “to be vigorous, thrive” + -or -or 1
Explanation
If your new puppy runs all over the house, jumps on the furniture, and enthusiastically chews up your socks, you may congratulate yourself on your new pup's vigor, or lively sense of energy. Aside from mental or physical vitality, the noun vigor can be applied to an imaginative style of thought or expression and also to a forceful intensity. "The jury was not only willing to acquit the defendant, but also nominate him for sainthood, by the time his attorney had delivered, with vigor, an impassioned plea for his client's innocence."
Vocabulary lists containing vigor
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Chains
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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.
Christopher finally has the showcase he deserves, and the vibrancy and vigor of his talent has Broadway justifiably agog.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
The lack of martial vigor rings especially true of the other groups, the seemingly disbanded Hurras al-Din in Syria and al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent.
From Slate • Apr. 21, 2026
“Amongst Women” revolves around Michael Moran, a widowed farmer who rules his family with pitiless vigor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026
With AI stocks on the wane, and investors rotating into economically sensitive sectors such as energy, materials, and industrials with increasing vigor, “next week” is a long time in markets.
From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026
Then, with more vigor, “You do nothing! This building falling down!”
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
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.
