Meaning & use
lively
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Full of energy and enthusiasm, and pleasant to be around.
Grammar: Gradable: lively, livelier, liveliest; used for people or animals.
Patterns
- lively and something
Our lively puppy never stops playing.
She is a lively child who asks questions about everything.
He was lively for his age and walked to the market daily.
adjectivecomparable
Busy, exciting and full of activity, often describing a place, event or talk.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a lively debate, the town is lively.
Patterns
- a lively debate
The cafe was lively with music and chatter.
They had a lively discussion about the new rules.
The market is at its liveliest on Saturday morning.
adjectivecomparable
Bright and quick in a way that holds attention, such as music, color or writing.
Grammar: Describes style or quality: lively music, a lively style.
The band played a lively tune that got everyone dancing.
The book is written in a lively style.
Lively colors brighten the nursery.
Word forms
| comparative | livelier |
|---|---|
| superlative | liveliest |
Common combinations
- lively debate
- The proposal sparked a lively debate.
- lively atmosphere
- The street has a lively atmosphere at night.
- lively discussion
- We had a lively discussion over dinner.
- lively mind
- At ninety she still has a lively mind.
- lively music
- Lively music filled the square.
- look lively
- Look lively, the guests are arriving!
Synonyms and how they differ
- energetic
- Energetic focuses on physical or mental effort, whereas lively also describes atmosphere and style.
- animated
- Animated is more about expression and movement in talk or faces.
- vibrant
- Vibrant suggests colorful, vivid and full of life, often used for places and colors.
- spirited
- Spirited suggests courage and determination, like a spirited defense.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: lively or lovely? lively or livelihood?
lively vs lovely
Lovely means beautiful or pleasant; lively means full of energy. They look and sound somewhat alike.
lively vs livelihood
Livelihood means the way you earn money to live, and shares only the start of its spelling with lively.
Practice
The meeting turned into a ___ debate, with everyone eager to speak.
Choose one answer.
A lively debate is full of energy. Lovely, lonely and likely are real words but do not describe a debate in this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lively”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.