Sprightlier

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having more energy and liveliness than before, showing greater enthusiasm or vivacity
2. Displaying increased spiritedness and cheerfulness in behavior or appearance
3. Exuding a heightened sense of animation and briskness compared to a previous state

Etymology: "Sprightlier" is the comparative of "sprightly," so it describes something livelier than it was before, and its history runs through a word for breath. The root is Latin "spiritus," meaning "air" or "breath," from "spirare," "to breathe." Through Old French "esperit" and Anglo-Norman "esprit," it reached Middle English as "sprit," meaning the principle of life, the soul, or an immaterial being such as a ghost or angel. Over time "sprit" shrank into "spright," an obsolete form, and "sprite" came to name a fairy, goblin, or apparition. The adjective "sprightly" was built by adding the suffix "-ly," which forms adjectives meaning "having the nature of" or "behaving like." A sprightly person therefore behaved like a spirit: quick, animated, lively as something without a body.

Synonyms: livelier, more energetic, zestier, more vivacious, more animated

Antonyms: duller, heavier, more sluggish, more lethargic, more tired