plucky

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈplʌki/ UK /ˈplʌki/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties

The plucky underdog refused to give up the match.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · having or showing... brave courageous game bold spirited gallant valiant intrepid

Opposites

cowardly timid fearfulspineless

Word family

Derived forms pluckilypluckiness

Related forms pluck

Etymology

From pluck ('courage, spirit') + -y. The noun pluck originally meant the heart, liver, and lungs of a slaughtered animal (what one 'plucks' out); courage came to be seated metaphorically in these organs.

pluccian Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# plucky

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈplʌki/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈplʌki/

## Meanings
1. having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties

## Examples
- The plucky underdog refused to give up the match.

## Synonyms
- brave
- courageous
- game
- bold
- spirited
- gallant
- valiant
- intrepid

## Antonyms
- cowardly
- timid
- fearful
- spineless

## Derived Forms
- pluckily
- pluckiness

## Related Forms
- pluck

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pluccian

## Etymology
From pluck ('courage, spirit') + -y. The noun pluck originally meant the heart, liver, and lungs of a slaughtered animal (what one 'plucks' out); courage came to be seated metaphorically in these organs.

## AI Etymology
Plucky is from pluck ('courage, spirit') + -y. The noun pluck originally meant the heart, liver, and lungs of a slaughtered animal (what one 'plucks' out); courage came to be seated metaphorically in these organs. Important recorded forms include pluccian (Old English). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties. The wider family includes derived forms such as pluckily and pluckiness and related words such as pluck.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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