Feisty
//ˈfaɪsti// adj
adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Tenacious, energetic, spunky.
"spirited and feisty"
- 2 Belligerent; prepared to stand and fight, especially in spite of relatively small stature or some other disadvantage.
"small but feisty"
- 3 Easily offended and ready to bicker.
"feisty attitude"
Adjective
- 1 quick to take offense wordnet
- 2 showing courage wordnet
Example
More examples"The elderly woman was frail but feisty."
Etymology
1896, American, feist (“small, aggressive dog”) + -y; the term feist (now rare) itself originally meant “stink”, and earlier “fart”, from Middle English, from Old English, from Proto-Germanic, presumably from Proto-Indo-European – see feist for details.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.