different between flighty vs irrepressible

English

Etymology

From flight +? -y. Compare Dutch vluchtig (“volatile; fleeting; cursory”), German flüchtig (“volatile; fleeting; momentary; quick”), Danish flygtig (“elusive; evasive”), Swedish flyktig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fla?ti/

Adjective

flighty (comparative flightier, superlative flightiest)

1. Given to unplanned and silly ideas or actions.
2. (of a bird) That flies easily or often.
   • 2013, Diego Gil, Henrik Brumm, Avian Urban Ecology

     "We know that flighty birds suffer from greater risk of raptor predation, and I assume that it is useful to understand the effects of urbanization because flighty species may be more vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance."

3. (obsolete) Swift.

Translations

English

Etymology

ir- +? repressible

Adjective

irrepressible (not generally comparable, comparative more irrepressible, superlative most irrepressible)

1. Not containable or controllable.
   • 1858, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. 15:

     [...] here the two friends burst into a variety of giggles, and glanced from time to time, over the tops of their pocket-handkerchiefs, at Nicholas, who from a state of unmixed astonishment, gradually fell into one of irrepressible laughter [...]

2. (of a person) Especially high-spirited, outspoken, or insistent.
   • 1875, Wilkie Collins, The Law and the Lady, ch. 3:

     The irrepressible landlady gave the freest expression to her feelings.

   • 1901, Frank Norris, The Octopus, Book II, Conclusion:

     "The irrepressible Yank is knocking at the doors of their temples and he will want to sell 'em carpet-sweepers for their harems."

   • 1963 July 12, "People," Time:

     It was Paris' irrepressible High Fashion Doyenne Gabrielle ("Coco") Chanel, 80, so-soing this and high-hatting that, while Women's Wear Daily took notes.

   • 2012 July 24, Mel Watkins, "Sherman Hemsley, ‘Jeffersons’ Star, Is Dead at 74," New York Times (retrieved 16 June 2013):

     High-strung and irrepressible, George Jefferson quickly became one of America’s most popular television characters, a high-energy, combative black man who backed down to no one.

Translations