spry
/spɹaɪ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.52 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "What follows is a bunch of nonstop goofery involving chase sequences, dream sequences, fast-changing costumes and an improbable beard, a little musical help from Flight Of The Conchords, and ultimately a very physical confrontation with a surprisingly spry Victoria."
- ""I'm not sure about whether I shall go. I am the most incurably lazy devil that ever stood in shoe leather—that is, when the fit is on me, for I can be spry enough at times.""
- "The Captain folded his brow into a look of intense perplexity. 'You seem exceedingly spry for a man who demolished an entire bottle of brandy and better part of an ounce of shag in a single evening.' 'And very nice too,' said the tramp. 'Now as to breakfast?'"
Etymology
From British dialectal sprey, from Old Norse sprækr (“nimble, lively”) from Proto-Germanic *sprēkiz (“lively”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)preg- (“to strew, jerk, sprinkle, scatter”). Cognate with Icelandic sprækur (“lively, spry”), Norwegian sprek (“lively, healthy”), dialectal Swedish sprygg (“brisk, very active, skittish”). More at spark. Related to sprack, sprig, sprug, freckle.