Sprightly

a. and adv. [f. SPRIGHT sb.¹ + -LY.]

  A.  adj. 1. Of persons: Full of vivacity or animation; cheerful, gay, brisk.

1596.  Nashe, Saffron Walden, To Rdr. Frisking come aloft sprightly Mercury, that hath wings for his moustachies, wings for his ey-browes, [etc.].

1602.  Marston, Ant. & Mel., IV. Wks. 1856, I. 52. Seest thou that sprightly youth?

1670.  Cotton, Espernon, II. v. 208. Most sprightly and gay Nobility, and Gentry of the Court.

1740.  Richardson, Pamela, Pref. (1824), I. 4. To engage the attention of the gay and more sprightly readers.

1766.  Goldsm., Vicar, xxiii. Nor was I displeased at seeing them once more sprightly and at ease.

1807.  Crabbe, Birth Flattery, 15. Thee, sprightly siren, from this train I choose.

1874.  L. Stephen, Hours in Library (1892), I. ii. 88. The … old tradesman could be … as sprightly and audacious as the most profligate man about town.

  absol.  1734.  Watts, Reliq. Juv. (1789), 18. There are both the sprightly and the stupid, the foolish and the wise.

1751.  Johnson, Rambler, No. 174, ¶ 2. The error … is very frequently incident to the quick, the sprightly, the fearless, and the gay.

1825.  C. Westmacott, Engl. Spy, I. 382. The spreeish or the sprightly.

  b.  Of animals: Lively, sportive.

1735.  Somerville, Chase, I. 86. To train the sprightly Steed, more fleet than those Begot by Winds.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th., I. 437. The sprightly Lark’s shrill Mattin wakes the Morn.

1830.  J. Milne, Widow & Son (1851), I. 141. The crowing of the sprightly cock.

1883.  ‘Annie Thomas,’ Mod. Housewife, 24. The mare was as sprightly as a cat.

  c.  Of plants: Quick-growing. rare^–1.

1693.  Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., 41. The principal Roots of … Raspish-Bushes, and some other very sprightly Shrubs.

  2.  Characterized by animation or cheerful vivacity: a. Of actions, qualities, etc.

1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., IV. vii. 15. I will reward thee Once for thy sprightly comfort.

1646.  Quarles, Judgem. & Mercy, Wks. (Grosart), I. 76/2. My bones are full of unctious marrow, and my blood, of sprightly Youth.

a. 1704.  T. Brown, Charms of Bottle, Wks. 1711, IV. 160. Here the sprightly Repartees fly about with the Glass.

1788.  Mme. D’Arblay, Diary, 2 Aug. He was himself all ease and sprightly unconsciousness.

1831.  Sinclair, Corr., II. 89. The conversation was sprightly, and well calculated for the lively company.

1868.  J. H. Blunt. Ref. Ch. Eng., I. 111. Her beauty had faded away, her sprightly buoyancy had gone.

  b.  Of personal bearing, looks, etc.

1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., IV. xiv. 52. Wee’l hand in hand, And with our sprightly Port make the Ghostes gaze.

1635.  Quarles, Emblems, IV. iii. 193. The sprightly voice of sinew-strengthning Pleasure.

1672–5.  Comber, Comp. Temple (1702), 157. Our looks were sprightly and chearful.

1748.  Hervey, Medit. (ed. 4), I. 33. How vain the Lustre of thy sprightly Eye!

1751.  Johnson, Rambler, No. 179, ¶ 74. The sprightly trip, the stately walk, the formal strut.

1823.  Scott, Quentin D., ii. The combination of fearless frankness and good-humour, with sprightly looks.

1873.  Dixon, Two Queens, XVI. v. III. 212. Her sprightly air … made her an attraction.

  absol.  1784.  Cowper, Tiroc., 665. Behold that figure,… His sprightly mingled with a shade of sad.

  c.  Of mind, disposition or character.

1673.  [R. Leigh], Transp. Reh., 12. One of those glorious enterprises … which the bishop’s active and sprightly mind was busied in.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe, II. (Globe), 330. The French, whose Temper is allow’d to be more volatile … and more sprightly.

1777.  Sheridan, Sch. Scand., Portr. 108. Such too her talents, and her bent of mind, As speak a sprightly heart by thought refined.

1878.  Browning, Poets Croisic, 99. So did her sprightly nature nowise lack Lustre when draped.

  d.  Of places in respect of social life or gay appearance.

1764.  Goldsm., Trav., 241. Gay sprightly land of mirth and social ease.

1809.  Pinkney, Trav. France, 278. It is well paved,… and the air being clear, it always looks clean and sprightly.

1832.  G. Downes, Lett. Cont. Countries, I. 290. It is, altogether, a sprightly, lively place, garnished with pleasing environs.

1875.  F. W. Newman, in I. G. Sieveking, Mem. (1909), 315. The gardens are becoming sprightly.

  3.  Of things: Having lively qualities or properties; naturally brisk; suggestive of animation or gaiety: a. Of liquors.

1605.  Plat, Delightes for Ladies, III. xxvii. You shall finde the same most excellent and sprightly drinke.

1661.  Boyle, Scept. Chem., VI. (1680), 418. These [crystals] I obtained not from Must, but True and sprightly Wine.

1709.  Prior, ‘If Wine,’ i. Let … Bacchus fill the sprightly Bowl.

1748.  Thomson, Cast. Indol., I. xxxiv. Whatever sprightly juice or tasteful food On the green bosom of this earth are found.

1796.  H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1799), I. 297. In ours, which are sprightly [wines], nothing is at the bottom but mere dregs.

1830.  M. Donovan, Dom. Econ., I. 93. Oats make an excellent malt, which … affords an excellent, mantling, sprightly, sweet drink.

  b.  In miscellaneous uses.

1621.  Quarles, Esther, vii. Sooner shall the sprightly flames of fire Descend, and moysten.

1635–56.  Cowley, Davideis, II. 803. A silk Mantle…, Where the most sprightly Azure pleas’d the Eyes.

1665.  Boyle, Reflect. (1848), 79. That pleasant and sprightly scent which makes the Rose so welcome to us.

1704.  Pope, Windsor For., 94. While youth ferments your blood, And purer spirits swell the sprightly flood.

1804.  C. B. Brown, trans. Volney’s View Soil U.S., 271. The winds between east and north are sprightly and cool.

1885–94.  R. Bridges, Eros & Psyche, March xvii. Naked he goeth, but with sprightly wings Red, iridescent, are his shoulders fledged.

1901.  Year-bk. U.S. Dep. Agric., 388. Flesh [of grape] tender, breaking juicy;… flavor mild, sweet and sprightly.

  c.  Of sounds.

1648.  Crashaw, Poems (1904), 120. The sprightly notes Of sweet-lipp’d Angell-Imps.

1670.  Dryden, Conq. Granada, I. III. i. Methinks it is a noble, sprightly Sound. The Trumpet’s Clangor, and the Clash of Arms!

1725.  Pope, Odyss., I. 531. Mean time the Lyre rejoins the sprightly lay.

1752.  Young, Brothers, II. i. These sprightly tuneful airs but skim along The surface of my soul, not enter there.

1817.  Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., X. I. 90. Their song is a sprightly warble, and is sometimes continued for a length of time.

1882.  J. F. S. Gordon, Hist. Moray, I. 282. There is a sprightly song and dance called ‘Kinrara.’

  d.  Of musical instruments.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 131. When he hears from far The sprightly Trumpets, and the Shouts of War.

a. 1721.  Prior, Colin’s Mistakes, ii. The sounding Clarion, and the sprightly Horn.

1757.  W. Wilkie, Epigoniad, I. 9. While to the sprightly harp, the voice explains The loves of all the gods.

1791.  Cowper, Odyss., VIII. 127. The herald hanging high The sprightly lyre.

  † 4.  Ghostly, spectral. Obs.^–1

1611.  Shaks., Cymb., V. v. 425. As I slept, me thought Great Iupiter vpon his Eagle back’d Appear’d to me, with other sprightly shewes Of mine owne Kindred.

  B.  adv. In a sprightly manner; with vigor and animation.

1604.  Dekker, Kings’ Entertainm., Wks. 1873, I. 295. Nine Trumpets and a kettle Drum did very sprightly and actively sound the Danish March.

1642.  H. More, Song of Soul, IV. 35. Her hid Centralitie So sprightly’s quickned with near Union With God.

1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 479. The Chevalry of Verse charges them more sprightly and Irresistibly.

a. 1895.  Paget, Autobiog. (1896), 80. A vessel sprightly approached with an admiral’s flag at the fore.