lively

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈlaɪvli/ UK /ˈlaɪv.li/ See IPA manual

Freq #7232

Meanings

1

adj
Full of energy and enthusiasm.

The party was lively, with music and dancing until midnight.
2

adj
Full of activity and excitement.

We had a lively discussion about politics over dinner.
3

adj
Bright, vivid, and strong in colour.

She painted the wall in a lively shade of orange.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · full of energy and enthusiasm. high-spirited

3 adj · bright, vivid, and strong... intense

More active alive frisky live peppy sprightly vitalzestful

Word family

Forms livelierliveliest

Derived forms livelilylivelinessoverlively

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

lively discussion
a conversation in which people exchange ideas with energy and enthusiasm

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English līflīċ (“living, lively, long-lived, necessary to life, vital”), from Proto-West Germanic *lībalīk (“living, lively”), equivalent to life + -ly. Cognate with Scots lively, lifely (“of or pertaining to life, vital, living, life-like”), Old High German līblīh (“living, animated”), German leiblich (“bodily, corporeal”). Doublet of lifely and lifelike.

lyvely Middle English līflīċ Old English *lībalīk Proto-West Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# lively

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈlaɪvli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlaɪv.li/
**Frequency rank:** 7232

## Meanings
1. Full of energy and enthusiasm.
2. Full of activity and excitement.
3. Bright, vivid, and strong in colour.

## Examples
- The party was lively, with music and dancing until midnight.
- We had a lively discussion about politics over dinner.
- She painted the wall in a lively shade of orange.

## Synonyms
- active
- alive
- frisky
- live
- peppy
- sprightly
- vital
- zestful

## Derived Forms
- livelily
- liveliness
- overlively

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: lyvely
- Root: līflīċ
- Root: *lībalīk

## Etymology
From Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English līflīċ (“living, lively, long-lived, necessary to life, vital”), from Proto-West Germanic *lībalīk (“living, lively”), equivalent to life + -ly. Cognate with Scots lively, lifely (“of or pertaining to life, vital, living, life-like”), Old High German līblīh (“living, animated”), German leiblich (“bodily, corporeal”). Doublet of lifely and lifelike.

## AI Etymology
Lively comes from Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English līflīċ (“living, lively, long-lived, necessary to life, vital”), from Proto-West Germanic *lībalīk (“living, lively”), equivalent to life + -ly. Cognate with Scots lively, lifely (“of or pertaining to life, vital, living, life-like”), Old High German līblīh (“living, animated”), German leiblich (“bodily, corporeal”). Doublet of lifely and lifelike. In present-day English its meanings include full of energy and enthusiasm, full of activity and excitement, and bright, vivid, and strong in colour. The historical chain runs through lyvely (Middle English), līflīċ (Old English), and *lībalīk (Proto-West Germanic).

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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