Brave and full of fight, especially when the person is small, young, or in a weak position and stands up anyway. That is the heart of it: a spunky child answers back to a bully; a spunky little team plays hard against a much stronger one. The tone is warm and approving, but it looks slightly downward — you would praise a child, a young employee or an underdog as spunky, not your boss or a general. Old films often use it of a lively young woman, which is why it can sound a bit dated and even patronising today. One warning worth knowing: in British and Australian slang 'spunk' also has a crude sexual meaning (and in Australia 'a spunk' means an attractive person), so 'spunky' can raise eyebrows there. In American English it is innocent.