Standard Lemma guide

zippy

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈzɪpi/
  • Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪpi
  • CMU ARPABET: Z IH1 P IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Energetic and lively.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: abuzz, active, agile, airy, alive, animate, animated, brisk, busy, busy as a bee, buxom, buzzing, diligent, driven, driving, dynamic, eager, effervescent, energetic, enthusiastic, expeditious, frisky, gay, genki, glowing, happy, hearty, impetuous, industrious, keen, kinetic, lively, merry, mobile, motivated, moving, nimble, peppy, perky, restive, sassy, snappy, spirited, sprightly, sprunt, spry, vibrant, vigorous, vivacious, vivid, wanton, youthful, zealous, zestful, zippy

Antonyms: abeyant, at rest, cessant, dormant, dull, fallow, idle, inactive, inert, languid, latent, nonactive, passive, quiescent, silent, sedent, sedentary, slow, suspended, torpid, unactive, unbusy, unemployed, unoccupied

2

adj

Meaning 2

Quick, speedy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cursory, express, fast, expeditious, feverish, fleet, fleeting, greased lightning, hasty, hectic, hectical, hyperactive, immediate, lightning fast, nimble, post haste, precipitant, quick, quick as a flash, quicksome, rapid, speedful, speedy, spit-spot, swift, tripsome, zippy

Antonyms: crawling, slack, slow-moving, languid, languorous, draggy, tardy, creeping, dreich, gastropodous, glacial, heavy-footed, inching, inert, labored, leaden, lead-footed, lethargic, low-speed, lumbering, plodding, pokey, ponderous, slothlike, slow, slow as a snail, slow as Christmas, slow as molasses, slow as molasses in January, slowfooted, sluggish, stately, steady, subglacial, sullen, tardigrade, tedious, testudineous, torpid, turtleish, turtlesque, unspeedy

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

marked by lively action

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a bouncing gait
  • bouncy tunes
  • the peppy and interesting talk
  • a spirited dance

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bouncing, bouncy, peppy, spirited

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

quick and energetic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a brisk walk in the park
  • a lively gait
  • a merry chase
  • traveling at a rattling rate
  • a snappy pace
  • a spanking breeze

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alert, brisk, lively, merry, rattling, snappy, spanking

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From zip (“to move in haste; to make (something) move quickly”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مفعم بالحيويَة (mufʕam bel ḥayaweya) — energetic and lively
  • Arabic: مفعمَة بالحيويَة (mufʕama bel ḥayaweya) — energetic and lively
  • Bulgarian: жив (živ) — energetic and lively
  • Bulgarian: енергичен (energičen) — energetic and lively
  • French: entraînant — energetic and lively
  • French: vif — energetic and lively
  • Georgian: ცოცხალი (cocxali) — energetic and lively
  • Georgian: გაცოცხლებული (gacocxlebuli) — energetic and lively
  • Georgian: მხნე (mxne) — energetic and lively
  • German: flott — energetic and lively
  • Portuguese: animado — energetic and lively
  • Portuguese: vivaz — energetic and lively
  • Portuguese: vivo — energetic and lively
  • Spanish: alegre — energetic and lively
  • Spanish: brioso — energetic and lively
  • Spanish: vivaz — energetic and lively
  • Spanish: vivo — energetic and lively