- 1（尤指老人）精神矍鑠的、硬朗俐落的；（曲子、步伐）輕快的
Lively, quick on your feet, full of energy — and almost always used about an old person, as a compliment. "A sprightly eighty-year-old" is someone who walks fast, gets up without help, laughs a lot, still does things. The word contains a hidden "considering their age", which is why it sounds warm and when said of the old and slightly strange when said of the young: calling a child sprightly is a bit like praising a fish for swimming. Notice this is one of those quiet English habits worth seeing clearly — the compliment is real, but it works by comparison with what we expect of old people, so a few older people dislike it. If you know someone well, "she's still so full of energy" is safer. Beyond people, sprightly describes music, dancing, a walking pace or a piece of writing that feels light and quick — a sprightly tune, a sprightly step. It is a somewhat formal, written word; British writers and newspapers use it more than Americans, and it is more common in print than in speech. The old adverb sprightly (meaning "in a lively way") is now dead — modern English does not use it.
組成spright + -ly（像…的）。spright 是 sprite（精靈、小妖精）的舊拼法，所以字面是「像精靈一樣的」——輕、快、活潑。
同家族的字
- spritespright is just an old spelling of sprite, a fairy or spirit
- spiritsprite came through French from Latin spiritus, the same source as spirit
- sprightlinessthe noun formed from this word
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
sprightlyadj詞源 1/ˈspɹaɪtli/
- 1
Animated, gay, or vivacious; lively, spirited.
- Next vnto lumpish Saturn, sprightlie Iove / Moves in his orbe.
- And ſhou’d Apollo novv deſcend and vvrite, / In Vertue’s Praiſe ’tvvou’d never paſs for Wit. / The Bookſeller perhaps vvou’d ſay, / ’Tvvas vvell: / But ’Tvvou’d not hit the Times, ’Tvvou’d never Sell: / Unleſs a Spice of Levvdneſs cou’d appear, / The ſprightly part vvou’d ſtill be vvanting there. / […] / ’Tis Love and Honour muſt enrich our Verſe, / The Modern Terms, our VVhoring to rehearſe. / The ſprightly part attends the God of VVine, / The Drunken Stile muſt blaze in every Line.
- 2
Of a person: full of life and vigour, especially with a light and springy step.
- Shall our example ſloth create, / And make our Sons degenerate? / Our ſprightly youth uſeleſs in War become, / And ſleep in peace and ſlavery at home.
- This youth was ance a sprightlie boy / As ever lived in Linne.
- 3
Of a person: full of life and vigour, especially with a light and springy step.
- 4
obsoleterareOf or relating to a sprite; ghostly, spectral.
- […] As I ſlept, me thought / Great Iupiter vpon his Eagle back'd / Appear'd to me, with other ſprightly ſhewes / Of mine owne Kindred.
sprightlyadv詞源 2/ˈspɹaɪtli/
- 1
In a lively and vigorous way; sprightlily.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。