vivacious, a.
(vaɪˈveɪʃəs, vɪ-)
Also 7–8 -eous.
[f. L. vīvāci-, vīvāx (whence F. and It. vivace, Sp. and Pg. vivaz), tenacious of life, long-lived, lively, vigorous, f. vīvĕre to live: see -acious.]
1. Full of, characterized by, or exhibiting vivacity or liveliness; animated, brisk, lively, sprightly. a. Of persons, the mind, disposition, etc.
In quot. 1647 the reference is to the soul.
| c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) I. ii. xv. 26 When people of a more vivacious and nimble temper com to mingle with them. 1647 H. More Song of Soul iii. App. xiv, This is that nimble quick vivacious Orb All ear, all eye, with rayes round shining bright. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 20 Mar. 1692, The Pr. of Wales,..seeming..very much to resemble..his mother, and of a most vivacious countenance. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 43 ¶10 If the Poet had not been Vivacious, as well as Stupid, he could not [etc.]. 1785 Burke Nabob of Arcot's Debts Wks. IV. 266 With all the reachings and graspings of a vivacious mind. 1798 Edgeworth Pract. Educ. (1811) I. 130 Vivacious pupils should from time to time be accustomed to an exact enumeration of particulars. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. xi, Here the vivacious doctor made a pathetic grimace. 1900 Longm. Mag. March 438 The..question of assigning the palm of beauty to the vivacious..little mother or to the tall, slim, grave daughter. |
| absol. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 204 ¶5 The young, the fair, the vivacious, and the witty. |
b. Of birds.
| 1773 Barrington in Phil. Trans. LXIII. 291 The scholar pitched upon may not only be more vivacious, but will continue in song. 1817 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. X. ii. 363 It is a vivacious bird, and frequently utters the notes sic sic sáic. |
c. Of qualities, conditions, etc.
| 1670 Maynwaring Vita Sana xvi. 159 These Passions..whose propensities are to..steal away from the Soul, that vivacious enlivening power. 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 522 A most vivacious and everlasting Sense of Pain. a 1711 Ken Hymns Festiv. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 294 Your Love the more vivacious grew, The nearer it to Glory drew. 1814 Scott Diary 12 Aug., in Lockhart, He looks very poorly,..but seems to retain all the quick, earnest, and vivacious intelligence of his character and manner. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxx, Mr. Snevelicci..proposed ‘The Ladies! Bless their hearts!’ in a most vivacious manner. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xxxvi, She invited affection by her beauty and her vivacious life. |
d. Of writings, language, etc.
| 1788 V. Knox Winter Even. (1790) I. xxv. 211 If, instead of collecting ideas, it [i.e. the mind] had been indulging its own pride in uttering vivacious nonsense. 1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times II. 202 The vivacious anecdotes related..rendered the whole scene peculiarly amusing. 1884 Macm. Mag. Nov. 3/1 The new work is more vivacious than the old. |
2. Continuing to live; remaining alive for a long time; long-lived. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. iii. §27 Hitherto the English Bishops had been vivacious almost to wonder. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §1 Their longevity swelling their impieties, the longanimity of God would no longer endure such vivacious abominations. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. viii. 282 They will never be able to prove, that therefore Men would be so vivacious as they would have us believe. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 30 [One sees] Vivacious ill; good dying immature. Ibid. v. 851 He gave an old vivacious usurer His meagre aspect, and his naked bones. |
| transf. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Northampton. (1662) ii. 293 By Gods blessing on his vivacious frugality he got so great an Estate. 1693 J. O. tr. Cowley's Plants i. 13 Though I the Oaks vivacious Age should live, I ne'er to all, their Names in Verse should give. |
b. Of plants;
† spec., perennial.
| 1676 Grew Anat. Flowers ii. v. §7 As if the other [plant], because it contains a far greater Proportion of the above-said Particles,..is able to beget a more Numerous, Vivaceous, or Gigantick Birth. 1721 Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 34 These..may again be distinguished by being Annual, or Perennial and Vivaceous. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Foxglove, This Plant is one of those called the vivacious Plants, and consequently..may also be raised by the Roots. 1827 J. Coldstream in J. H. Balfour Biog. (1865) ii. 24 Such foreign vivacious plants as pass the winter without shelter in our climate. 1854 Thoreau Walden (1906) 237 Still grows the vivacious lilac a generation after the door and lintel and sill are gone. |
3. Possessing or exhibiting tenacity of life; difficult to kill or destroy.
rare.
| 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. Digress. 373 The particular and vivacious Nature of this sort of Fishes [i.e. eels]. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety ii. ¶3 A late statesman said..of England, that it was a vivacious animal that could never die except it kill'd it self. 1822–7 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 345 The long round worm,..body transparent,..gregarious and vivacious. |