as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a feisty hockey player who has spent more than his share of time in the penalty box
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Recent Examples of feisty
Leading scorer and feisty defender Jaiden Peterson could not find the mark and struggled on the offensive side of the floor.
—
Chris Hays, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Mar. 2026
The Wildcats looked fresh and feisty from the moment the ball was tipped, perhaps taking advantage of UCF's tired legs following its second-round overtime win over Cincinnati, and roaring to a 35-8 lead over the first 13 minutes of the game.
—ABC News, 12 Mar. 2026
Abby is reading these teases after wrangling a feisty debate for 10 minutes.
—Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 11 Mar. 2026
The outcome dropped the Sun Devils to 17-16, and later Wednesday afternoon ASU announced that Hurley — a feisty point guard on two NCAA championship teams at Duke in the early 1990s — was out.
—Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 11 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for feisty
Chris Hays, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Mar. 2026
The Wildcats looked fresh and feisty from the moment the ball was tipped, perhaps taking advantage of UCF's tired legs following its second-round overtime win over Cincinnati, and roaring to a 35-8 lead over the first 13 minutes of the game.
—ABC News, 12 Mar. 2026
Abby is reading these teases after wrangling a feisty debate for 10 minutes.
—Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 11 Mar. 2026
The outcome dropped the Sun Devils to 17-16, and later Wednesday afternoon ASU announced that Hurley — a feisty point guard on two NCAA championship teams at Duke in the early 1990s — was out.
—Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 11 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for feisty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for feisty
Adjective
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Brvenik, 44, was diagnosed in 2024 with leiomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.—
Max Klaver,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
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Your sense of self takes the lead as the Moon, presently in your sign, opposes aggressive Mars across your partnership zone.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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But the response to Alcock in many online corners has been as if the actress went on a militant feminist rant slamming all male fans and threw a massive pity party for herself.—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Apr. 2026
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But the regime shows no sign of unraveling, and the people who have replaced senior leaders are known as equally hard-line or arguably even more militant than their predecessors, according to Western officials and experts on Iran.—
Abigail Williams,
NBC news,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The 45th president’s victory in the crowded 2016 primary effectively toppled the existing Republican Establishment, injecting the party with a combination of populism and distrust that was especially hostile to the way things were done before.—
Alex J. Rouhandeh,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2026
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Customers will keep fighting back with dirty returns, unused reservations and hostile reviews.—
Christopher Elliott,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Investigators lay out a detailed narrative of how the farmer’s wife was killed and provide an intimate look at a couple and family in the midst of a contentious divorce.—
James Rainey,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
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But Xi sent them all home without making significant concessions on the matters that have strained their relations, including concerns over Beijing’s support for Russian President Vladimir Putin or China’s unfair trade practices that threaten European industry, among other contentious matters.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Feisty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/feisty. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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