spirited

1 marked by a lively display of strong feeling the town meeting featured a spirited debate about the proposed ban on skateboarding in the plaza downtown Synonyms fiery, gingery, high-spirited, mettlesome, peppery, spunky Related Words aggressive, ambitious, assertive, high-pressure, in-your-face, militant, pushy; animate, animated, bouncing, bouncy, brisk, energetic, feisty, frisky, jaunty, jazzy, kinetic, peppy, perky, pert, racy, scrappy, snappy, spanking, sparky, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy; ardent, fervent, impassioned, passionate; emphatic, obtrusive Near Antonyms bloodless, boring, dull, lifeless; dead, inanimate, lackadaisical, languid, languorous, limp, listless; inert, lethargic, sleepy, sluggish, tired, torpid; low-pressure, nonassertive, unaggressive, unambitious, unassertive, unenterprising Antonyms halfhearted, leaden, spiritless

2 having much high-spirited energy and movement a team known for its spirited and in-your-face basketball Synonyms active, airy, animate, animated, bouncing, brisk, energetic, frisky, gay, jaunty, jazzy, kinetic, mettlesome, peppy, perky, pert, pizzazzy (or pizazzy), racy, snappy, spanking, sparky, lively, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippyRelated Words dapper, dashing, spiffy; agog, alert, awake, open-eyed, up, wide-awake; agile, nimble, spry; bright, buoyant, cheerful, chipper, chirpy, chirrupy, effervescent, sparkly, upbeat; eager, enthusiastic, keen; frolicsome, impish, pixieish, playful; boisterous, bubbly, ebullient, exuberant, high-spirited; high-strung, nervous, skittishNear Antonyms indolent, lazy, unambitious; inert, lethargic, sleepy, sluggish, tired, torpid, weary; apathetic, impassive, phlegmatic, stolid; boring, dull, irksome, tediousAntonyms dead, inactive, inanimate, lackadaisical, languid, languishing, languorous, leaden, lifeless, limp, listless, spiritless, vapid