feisty
adj/ˈfaɪsti/
Etymology 1896, American, feist (“small, aggressive dog”) + -y; 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.
1
Tenacious, energetic, spunky.
- spirited and feisty
- She gave a feisty response during the debate.
1 more example
- The feisty puppy barked at everyone.
2
Belligerent; prepared to stand and fight, especially in spite of relatively small stature or some other disadvantage.
- small but feisty
- The feisty wife of a world-renowned Russian sculptor emasculated an armed thug outside her Soho home — saying he “didn’t have the cojones to shoot her,” police sources said yesterday.2013 July 10, Daniel Prendergast, “‘You don’t have the cojones’: 54-year-old woman fronts up to would-be muggers who pointed gun at her chest”, in New York Post, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2016:
3
Easily offended and ready to bicker.
- feisty attitude
- Derived terms
- feistily, feistiness, shiesty, unfeisty