Zippy

//ˈzɪpi// adj, slang

adj, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Energetic and lively. informal

    "Fun is the doughboy's pal—that's why he wrote and sings "K-K-K-Katy"—the song of songs, with a zippy, catchy melody and those beautifully simple words stammered by Katy's tongue-tied beau."

  2. 2
    Quick, speedy. informal

    "Apart from anything else, the zippier Northern cadences meant the radio stations could pack in three or four commercials in the time it would take the average Southerner to clear his throat."

Adjective
  1. 1
    marked by lively action wordnet
  2. 2
    quick and energetic wordnet

Example

More examples

"Fun is the doughboy's pal—that's why he wrote and sings "K-K-K-Katy"—the song of songs, with a zippy, catchy melody and those beautifully simple words stammered by Katy's tongue-tied beau."

Etymology

From zip (“to move in haste; to make (something) move quickly”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.