Meaning & use
spry
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Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Lively and quick on your feet, especially when someone is older than you would expect to be so active.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a spry grandfather, he is spry.
Patterns
- be spry
- spry for his age
My grandmother is still spry enough to climb the stairs twice a day.
The spry old man hopped onto the bus.
He looked spry for a man of ninety.
Word forms
| comparative | spryer |
|---|---|
| superlative | spryest |
Common combinations
- spry for his age
- He is remarkably spry for his age.
- spry old man
- A spry old man led the hike.
- surprisingly spry
- The surprisingly spry coach outran the players.
- spry step
- She walked with a spry step.
- remain spry
- Regular walks help people remain spry.
Synonyms and how they differ
- nimble
- Nimble describes quick light movement at any age, while spry usually hints at age.
- agile
- Agile suggests skill and flexibility in movement, and is used for athletes and animals too.
- sprightly
- Sprightly adds a note of cheerful liveliness, and also often describes older people.
- energetic
- Energetic means full of energy, but does not focus on physical ease of movement.
Opposites
Word family
- spryly adverb
- in a lively, quick way
- spryness noun
- the quality of being lively and quick
- sprightly adjective
- a close relative in meaning, cheerful and lively
Commonly confused: spry or spray?
spry vs spray
Spray is a liquid in fine drops, unrelated to being agile, though the two words look alike.
Practice
At eighty-five, Mr. Alvarez was still so ___ that he walked to the market every morning.
Choose one answer.
Spry means lively and physically quick, which explains his daily walk. Stiff would suggest the opposite, and shy and sullen describe mood.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spry”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.