feisty

adjective

ˈfī-stē How to pronounce feisty (audio)
Definition of feistynext
as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight a feisty hockey player who has spent more than his share of time in the penalty box

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of feisty Boys with their toys, thought The Times’ feisty critic Isabelle Morse Jones. — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026 Kelly Reilly, who has played the feisty rancher since 2018, reprised her role alongside Cole Hauser as her onscreen husband in the Paramount+ spinoff series, which saw Beth and Rip (Hauser) relocate to Texas from Montana. — Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 13 July 2026 The movie follows the life of feisty belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), from growing up on a plantation to her love affairs, including with roguish Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 1 July 2026 Though to the credit of the series and especially Dana’s feisty performance, Zorro makes some effort. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 30 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for feisty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for feisty
  1. aggressive
  2. militant
  3. hostile
  4. contentious
Adjective
  • His preference for a 4-2-3-1 has been evident, however, and the German is looking for Newcastle to be aggressive in the press, intensive and also direct, with a plan to get the ball forward as quickly as possible.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Throughout his scuffles, however, Boone felt Grisham had gotten more aggressive inside the strike zone.
    — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of aggressive
Adjective
  • Abductions at schools are common in Nigeria, where militant groups target them to put pressure on the government and extract ransoms.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The agreement, part of a broader ceasefire deal reached last year, calls for Israel to cease its military operations and for Hamas and its allies in Gaza to halt all militant activity.
    — Rodney Muhumuza, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of militant
Adjective
  • The high risk of – and challenges of addressing – oil spills and other safety incidents in the hostile Arctic climate are another dissuading factor, as are environmental costs of operating there.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
  • The episode picks up when Bret and Robert have their first tense interaction — their vaguely hostile and lightly homoerotic back-and-forth continues to be the highlight of the show for me.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of hostile
Adjective
  • Stassi Anastassov, former Duracell CEO, has taken the helm at Ferretti Group following a contentious boardroom battle, despite his lack of prior yachting experience.
    — Bill Springer, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • At a contentious Senate hearing in July 2021, Paul repeatedly clashed with Fauci and accused him of lying about the government funding research in Wuhan.
    — Michael Collins, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of contentious

Browse Nearby Words

feistiness
feisty
felicific
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Feisty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/feisty. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on feisty

Nglish: Translation of feisty for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All