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feisty

Etymology and origin of the English word feisty

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfaɪsti/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from feist “a small dog” and the suffix -y.[2][3][4][5] Feist is from earlier American dialect fice, fist (1805),[3][4] short for fysting curre “stinking cur” (1529),[3][4] from Middle English fysten “to break wind”,[3][4] related to Old English fisting “stink”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aggressive, excitable, touchy (1896, American dialect).[6][3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

A feist was a small, yappy dog,[3][4] and to be feisty was to behave like one: touchy, quarrelsome or fidgety.[7][2] In the Southern and Midland United States it could mean full of nervous energy.[7] In general use the word has become more approving, describing lively, plucky spirit,[2][7][5] especially in someone small or at a disadvantage.[1]

Timeline

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Full of spirit or pluck; spunky.
  2. Touchy or quarrelsome.
  3. (chiefly Southern and Midland US) Fidgety, full of nervous energy.

Word family

  • feistiness
  • feistily
  • feist
  • fart

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Feisty.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/feisty. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·