feisty

adjective

ˈfī-stē 

feistier; feistiest

1

chiefly Southern US and Midland US

a

: full of nervous energy : fidgety

b

: touchy, quarrelsome

c

: exuberantly frisky

2

: having or showing a lively aggressiveness : spunky

the movie's feisty heroine

feistiness noun

Did you know?

In some parts of the southern United States, the word feist (pronounced to rhyme with heist) has been used since the 18th century as a term for a small dog used in hunting more diminutive game animals (such as squirrels). The word comes from the much older, now obsolete word fisting (pronounced as “feisting” would be) meaning “breaking wind,” which was used scornfully in the 16th and 17th centuries to describe gassy pooches. Feisty developed in the late 19th century, its flatulent origin lost, but its small-dog association still visible with a squint: the term conveys the spunk and determination that one may associate with a dog that manages to make its presence known, through its bark or its bite—or perhaps even its indifference to olfactory decorum—despite its small size.

Synonyms

• aggressive
• agonistic
• argumentative
• assaultive
• bellicose
• belligerent
• brawly
• chippy
• combative
• confrontational
• contentious
• discordant
• disputatious
• gladiatorial
• militant
• pugnacious
• quarrelsome
• scrappy
• truculent
• warlike

Examples of feisty in a Sentence

I was feisty, because people misinterpret what country music is, just like they think Southerners are a bunch of hicks. —Wynonna Judd, quoted in Rolling Stone, 8-22 July 1993

Humorist Cynthia Heimel never plays it safe, bless her feisty little heart. She's outrageous and hilarious, daring to say exactly what she and millions of other women really think … —Donna Seaman, Booklist, 15 May 1993

… Milwaukee was the last major industrial city to elect a Socialist mayor—Frank P. Zeidler, a feisty octogenarian who teaches today at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee … —Charles P. Pierce, Village Voice, 10 Mar. 1992

She never tired of hearing anecdotes from her childhood, and she particularly liked to hear how feisty she had been … —Lorene Cary, Black Ice, 1991

The novel features a feisty heroine.

Even her opponents admire her feisty spirit.

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s what the next few days could hold: Dangerous storms threaten major Midwest metros Thursday A storm churning over the north-central US Thursday morning fueled feisty storms later in the afternoon and evening in the Midwest. —Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 15 May 2025

Sure, if things come together, the Raptors could make the playoffs next season and maybe even establish themselves as a feisty team over the next few years. —Eric Koreen, New York Times, 13 May 2025

His characters come off as feisty egoists who enjoy sparring and comparing the size of their ambitions. —Justin Davidson, Vulture, 13 May 2025

There was the feisty feline who began ringing one home owner's doorbell well after 9 P.M. Then there was the clever cat who came up with a unique way of being let back inside using their owner's security camera. —Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

feist + -y entry 1

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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