plucky

English

Etymology

pluck (“nerve, persistence”) +‎ -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈplʌki/

• Audio (southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌki

Adjective

plucky (comparative pluckier, superlative pluckiest)

1. (informal) Having or showing pluck, courage or spirit in trying circumstances.

   Synonyms: brave, spunky, feisty

   • 1890, W. S. Gilbert, “The Modern Major-General”, in Songs of a Savoyard:

     For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury, / Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century

   • 2020 July 29, “Lawmakers From Both Sides Take Aim at Big Tech Executives”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     At the start of the hearing, Mr. Bezos introduced himself as a lucky and humble example of the success of American democracy — the son of a plucky mother and a supportive, immigrant father who “fostered my curiosity and encouraged me to dream big.”

Derived terms

• pluckily
• pluckiness

Translations

having or showing pluck

• Bulgarian: решителен (bg) (rešitelen)
• Czech: kurážný
• Finnish: rohkea (fi), sisukas (fi)
• French: courageux (fr), qui a du cran
• German: beherzt (de), tapfer (de)
• Greek: θαρραλέος (el) (tharraléos)
• Hindi: वीर (hi) (vīr)
• Italian: coraggioso (it), impavido (it)
• Mandarin: 勇敢ゆうかん (zh) (yǒnggǎn)
• Maori: kiriūka, whaipara
• Norman: gamme
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: modig (no), djerv (no)

• Polish: dzielny (pl)
• Portuguese: ousado (pt)
• Russian: отва́жный (ru) (otvážnyj)
• Slovak: odvážny
• Spanish: valiente (es), osado (es)
• Swedish: modig (sv), djärv (sv)
• Vietnamese: can đảm (vi)
• Westrobothnian:

Further reading

• “plucky”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.