spry
/spɹaɪ/ adjective, proper noun
Forms sprier spriest Sprys
- adjective Having great power of leaping or running; nimble; active.
- adjective Vigorous; lively; cheerful; sprightly.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From British dialectal sprey, from Old Norse sprækr (“nimble, lively”) from Proto-Germanic *sprēkiz (“lively”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)preg- (“to strew, jerk, sprinkle, scatter”). Cognate with Icelandic sprækur (“lively, spry”), Norwegian sprek (“lively, healthy”), dialectal Swedish sprygg (“brisk, very active, skittish”). More at spark. Related to sprack, sprig, sprug, freckle.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [Cf. dial. Sw. sprygg lively, skittish, and E. sprag.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “spry”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details