Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

Thesaurus

racy

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of racy

1 having much high-spirited energy and movement
  • vivid writing and a racy plot that keeps readers turning the pages
Synonyms of racy

active, airy, animate, animated, bouncing, brisk, energetic, frisky, gay, jaunty, jazzy, kinetic, lively, mettlesome, peppy, perky, pert, snappy, spanking, sparky, spirited, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy
Words Related to racy

dapper, dashing, spiffy

agog, alert, awake, open-eyed, up, wide-awake

agile, nimble, spry

bright, buoyant, cheerful, chipper, chirpy, effervescent, sparkly, upbeat

eager, enthusiastic, keen

frolicsome, impish, pixieish, playful

boisterous, bubbly, ebullient, exuberant, high-spirited
Phrases Synonymous with racy

on the go
Near Antonyms of racy

indolent, lazy, unambitious

inert, lethargic, sleepy, sluggish, tired, torpid, weary

apathetic, impassive, phlegmatic, stolid

boring, dull, irksome, tedious
Antonyms of racy

dead, inactive, inanimate, lackadaisical, languid, languishing, languorous, leaden, lifeless, limp, listless, spiritless, vapid
2 hinting at or intended to call to mind matters regarded as indecent
  • a comedy with language that was a little too racy for an eight-year-old child
Synonyms of racy

bawdy, lewd, off-color (or off-colored), ribald, risqué, salty, spicy, suggestive
Words Related to racy

leering

coarse, crude, earthy, foul, gross, vulgar

dirty, filthy, lascivious, nasty, obscene, pornographic, prurient, smutty

immodest, indecorous, indelicate, naughty
Near Antonyms of racy

clean, decent

innocuous, inoffensive

priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, staid, straitlaced (or straightlaced)

correct, decorous, genteel, proper, respectable, seemly

Synonym Discussion of racy

pungent, piquant, poignant, racy mean sharp and stimulating to the mind or the senses. pungent implies a sharp, stinging, or biting quality especially of odors.
    • a cheese with a pungent odor
piquant suggests a power to whet the appetite or interest through tartness or mild pungency.
    • a piquant sauce
poignant suggests something is sharply or piercingly effective in stirring one's emotions.
    • felt a poignant sense of loss
racy implies having a strongly characteristic natural quality fresh and unimpaired.
    • spontaneous, racy prose

Learn More about racy

  1. See words that rhyme with racy Dictionary: Definition of racy Spanish Central: Translation of racy Nglish: Translation of racy for Spanish speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up racy? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games