FromMiddle Englishlyvely,lifly, fromOld Englishlīflīċ(“living, lively, long-lived, necessary to life, vital”), fromProto-West Germanic*lībalīk(“living, lively”), equivalent tolife +-ly. Cognate withScotslively,lifely(“of or pertaining to life, vital, living, life-like”),Old High Germanlīblīh(“living, animated”),Germanleiblich(“bodily, corporeal”).Doublet oflifely andlifelike.
lively (comparativelivelier,superlativeliveliest)
- Full oflife;energetic,vivacious.
1671,John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, inParadise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […],→OCLC,page85, lines452–455:But wherefore comes oldManoa in suchhaſt, / With youthful ſteps? muchlivelier then e're while / He ſeems.
1918,W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, inThe Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC,page77:[...] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of railway viaducts, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banishedlively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.
1961 November 10,Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, inCatch-22 […], New York, N.Y.:Simon and Schuster,→OCLC,page168:Since sick people were apt to be present, he could not always depend on alively young crowd in the same ward with him, and the entertainment was not always good.
- Bright,glowing,vivid;strong,vigorous.
1704,Isaac Newton,Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light:The colours of the prism are manifestly more full, intense, andlively that those of natural bodies.
1688,Robert South,Sacramental Preparation: Set forth in a Sermon on Matthew 5, 12.:His faith must be not only living, butlively too.
- (archaic)Endowed with ormanifesting life;living.
- c.1600,Philemon Holland
- chaplets of gold and silver resemblinglively flowers and leaves
- (archaic) Representing life; lifelike.
- (archaic) Airy; animated; spirited.
1734, [Alexander Pope],An Essay on Man. […], epistle IV, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […],→OCLC,page80, line775:From grave to gay, fromlively to ſevere, [...]
- (ofbeer)Fizzy;foamy; tending to produce a largehead in the glass.
- (full of life):high-spirited,frisky,peppy,zestful; see alsoThesaurus:active
- (vivid, strong, vigorous):intense
- (endowed with or manifesting life):extant,live,vital; see alsoThesaurus:alive
- (representing life):lifey,limned,naturalistic,
- (fizzy, foamy):frothy,spumescent
with nouns
- lively person
- lively character
- lively lady
- lively woman
- lively man
- lively audience
- lively personality
- lively art
- lively guide
- lively activity
- lively game
- lively lesson
- lively introduction
- lively discussion
- lively debate
- lively writing
- lively image
- lively town
- lively city
- lively village
full of life
- Arabic:دَجِر(dajir)
- Egyptian Arabic:نشيط(nišīṭ)
- Bulgarian:жив (bg)(živ),оживен (bg)(oživen),искрящ (bg)(iskrjašt)
- Catalan:vivaç
- Czech:živý (cs)
- Danish:livlig
- Dutch:levendig (nl)
- Esperanto:sprita,verva,vigla
- Faroese:lívligur
- Finnish:eläväinen (fi)
- French:animé (fr)
- German:lebhaft (de),lebendig (de),munter (de),rege (de)
- Greek:ζωηρός (el)(zoïrós),ζωντανός (el)(zontanós)
- Ancient:βιωτικός(biōtikós)
- Hindi:जीवंत (hi)(jīvant)
- Hungarian:eleven (hu),élénk (hu)
- Icelandic:líflegur (is)
- Irish:cróga,crógach,cróganta,aerach,beoga,éirimiúil,bíogúil,mear
- Italian:vivace (it),brioso (it),vivido (it)
- Latin:alacer,vivāx,vegetus
- Latvian:možs,mundrs,žirgts,spirgts,ņiprs,kustīgs
- Maori:hauoraora,kautangatanga(of movement)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål:livlig
- Nynorsk:livleg
- Old Church Slavonic:живъ(živŭ)
- Ottoman Turkish:دینج(dinc)
- Polish:żywy (pl),pełen życia
- Portuguese:animado (pt),borbulhante,efervescente (pt),espevitado (pt),vibrante (pt),vivaz (pt)
- Russian:оживлённый (ru)(oživljónnyj),живой (ru)(živoj),искристый (ru)(iskristyj)
- Scottish Gaelic:aighearach,beò
- Slovene:živahen (sl)
- Spanish:animado (es),brioso (es),burbujeante (es),efervescente (es),pizpireto (es),vigoroso (es),vivaz (es)
- Swedish:livlig (sv)
- Ukrainian:жва́вий(žvávyj)
- Welsh:byw (cy)
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bright, glowing, vivid; strong
lively (plurallivelies)
- (nautical, informal)Term of address.
FromMiddle Englishlyvely,lifly, fromOld Englishlīflīċe, equivalent tolife +-ly.
lively (comparativemorelively,superlativemostlively)
- Vigorously.
- Vibrantly,vividly.
- (obsolete) In alifelike manner.
- , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.220-1:
- the PainterProtogenes […] having perfected the image of a wearie and panting dog, […] but being unable, as he desired,lively to represent the drivel or slaver of his mouth, vexed against his owne worke, took his spunge, and moist as it was with divers colours, threw it at the picture […].
