different between lively vs sportive

English

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?la?vli/

Etymology 1

From Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English l?fl?? (“living, lively, long-lived, necessary to life, vital”), equivalent to life +? -ly. Cognate with Scots lively, lifely (“of or pertaining to life, vital, living, life-like”). Doublet of lifely.

Alternative forms

• lifely (obsolete)

Adjective

lively (comparative livelier, superlative liveliest)

1. Full of life; energetic.
2. Bright, glowing, vivid; strong, vigorous.
   • 1704, Isaac Newton, Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light

     The colours of the prism are manifestly more full, intense, and lively that those of natural bodies.

   • 1688, Robert South, Sacramental Preparation: Set forth in a Sermon on Matthew 5, 12.

     His faith must be not only living, but lively too.

3. (archaic) Endowed with or manifesting life; living.
   • c. 1600, Philemon Holland

     chaplets of gold and silver resembling lively flowers and leaves

4. (archaic) Representing life; lifelike.
   • 1632, Philip Massinger and Nathan Field, The Fatal Dowry

     I spied the lively picture of my father.

5. (archaic) Airy; animated; spirited.
6. (of beer) Fizzy; foamy; tending to produce a large head in the glass.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "lively" is often applied: person, character, lady, woman, man, audience, personality, art, guide, activity, game, lesson, introduction, discussion, debate, writing, image, town, city, village, etc.

Synonyms

• (full of life): frisky, peppy, zestful; see also Thesaurus:active
• (vivid, strong, vigorous): intense
• (endowed with or manifesting life): extant, live, vital; see also Thesaurus:alive
• (representing life): lifey, limned, naturalistic,
• (fizzy, foamy): frothy, spumescent

Derived terms

• liveliness
• look lively

Translations

Noun

lively (plural livelies)

1. (nautical, informal) Term of address.
   • 1846, Herman Melville, Typee

     Speak the word, my livelies, and I'll pilot her in.

Etymology 2

From Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English l?fl??e, equivalent to life +? -ly.

Adverb

lively (comparative more lively, superlative most lively)

1. Vigorously.
2. Vibrantly, vividly.
3. (obsolete) In a lifelike manner.
   • , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.220-1:

     the Painter Protogenes […] having perfected the image of a wearie and panting dog, […] but being unable, as he desired, lively to represent the drivel or slaver of his mouth, vexed against his owne worke, took his spunge, and moist as it was with divers colours, threw it at the picture  […].

Translations

Anagrams

• evilly, vilely

English

Etymology

From sport +? -ive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sp??(?)t?v/

Adjective

sportive (comparative more sportive, superlative most sportive)

1. (archaic) lively; merry; spritely
2. Playful, coltish.
3. Interested in sport.
4. Sporty, good at sport.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

sportive (plural sportives)

1. (cycling) cyclosportive
   • 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track

     Such incidents, part of the cherished mythology of the Tour's early years, are rare in modern cycling, although a 62-year-old local councillor was arrested and subsequently released after tacks had been scattered during the 2009 Etape Caledonia, a sportive held on closed roads in Scotland, causing countless punctures among the 3,500 riders.

Anagrams

• overtips, pivoters, repivots, sorptive, tip overs

French

Adjective

sportive

1. feminine singular of sportif

Noun

sportive f (plural sportives)

1. sportswoman

Further reading

• “sportive” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

sportive

1. inflection of sportiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ive

Adjective

sportive f pl

1. feminine plural of sportivo

Noun

sportive f

1. plural of sportiva

Anagrams

• previsto, proviste