Word.ws English Dictionary

spirited

Syllables: spir·it·ed/ˈspɪɹɪtɪd/

spirited is the simple past and past participle of spirit.

Meaning of spirit

Verb

spirit (third-person singular simple present spirits, present participle spiriting, simple past and past participle spirited)

  1. To carry off, especially in haste, secrecy, or mystery.
    • I felt as if I had been spirited into some castle of felicity.1835, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Pencillings by the Way
  2. Sometimes followed by up: to animate with vigour; to excite; to encourage; to inspirit.
    • Civil dissensions often spirit the ambition of private men.

See all 16 meanings of spirit

Adjective

spirited (comparative more spirited, superlative most spirited)

  1. Lively, vigorous, animated or courageous.
    • November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk
      Remarkably United’s 10 men almost salvaged an improbable draw during a late, spirited challenge. They showed great competitive courage in that period and there were chances...
    • But the Danes remained resolute in defence - largely thanks to a spirited display by captain Daniel Agger - and they went ahead with their first meaningful attack.2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport

Forms of spirited

comparativemore spirited
superlativemost spirited

Words formed from spirited

Phrases with spirited

Questions about spirited

What does spirited mean?
Spirited means lively, vigorous, animated or courageous.
What is spirited the simple past and past participle of?
Spirited is the simple past and past participle of spirit.
What part of speech is spirited?
Spirited is an adjective.
How do you pronounce spirited?
Spirited is pronounced /ˈspɪɹɪtɪd/.

Words near spirited in the dictionary

  1. spirit-rooms
  2. spirit-stand
  3. spirit-stands
  4. spiritally
  5. spiritdom
  6. spirited
  7. spirited away
  8. spirited off
  9. spiritedly
  10. spiritedness
  11. spiriten

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spirited (page history and authors); spirit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-spirited.wav.

Cite this entry: “spirited.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spirited. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.