feisty

feisty

English

Etymology

1896, American, feist (“small, aggressive dog”) +‎ -y;[1] the term feist (now rare) itself originally meant “stink”, and earlier “fart”, from Middle English, from Old English, from Proto-Germanic, presumably from Proto-Indo-European – see feist for details.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪsti/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪsti

Adjective

feisty (comparative feistier or more feisty, superlative feistiest or most feisty)

1. Tenacious, energetic, spunky.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

2. Belligerent; prepared to stand and fight, especially in spite of relatively small stature or some other disadvantage.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

3. Easily offended and ready to bicker.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• feistily
• feistiness

Translations

tenacious

Czech: houževnatý Dutch: hardnekkig (nl) Finnish: ärhäkkä, kipakka (fi) French: tenace (fr) Georgian: შეუპოვარი (šeuṗovari), უდრეკი (udreḳi), ჯიუტი (ǯiuṭi), მტკიცე (mṭḳice), გამძლე (gamʒle) German: zäh (de), hartnäckig (de), lebhaft (de), temperamentvoll (de), munter (de), quirlig (de), beherzt (de), lebendig (de), mutig (de), resolut (de) Greek: δυναμικός (el) (dynamikós), ενεργητικός (el) (energitikós), επίμονος (el) (epímonos) Hungarian: heves (hu), tüzes (hu), eleven (hu), élénk (hu), energikus (hu) Italian: tenace (it), tosto (it) Romanian: tenace (ro) Russian: напо́ристый (ru) (napóristyj) Spanish: tenaz (es) Swedish: ettrig (sv)

belligerent

Bikol Central: uragon Czech: útočný (cs), agresivní (cs), bojovný (cs), kurážný, smělý (cs) Dutch: strijdlustig (nl), strijdbaar (nl), vechtlustig (nl) Finnish: ärhäkkä French: agressif (fr) Georgian: ფიცხი (picxi) German: streitsüchtig (de), kampflustig, streitbar (de), übellaunig (de), angriffslustig (de), resolut (de) Greek: μαχητικός (el) (machitikós) Hungarian: harcias (hu) Italian: combattivo (it) Russian: вздо́рный (ru) (vzdórnyj) Spanish: agresivo (es) Swedish: stridslysten (sv), stridbar (sv)

easily offended

Czech: svárlivý, hašteřivý Dutch: lichtgeraakt (nl) Finnish: herkkänahkainen, ärhäkkä Georgian: ფხუკიანი (pxuḳiani), ჭირვეული (č̣irveuli) German: empfindlich (de), reizbar (de), überlaunig, streitsüchtig (de), verletzlich (de) Greek: επιθετικός (el) (epithetikós), εριστικός (el) (eristikós) Hungarian: sértődékeny (hu) Portuguese: melindroso (pt)

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “feisty”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.