feisty, a. U.S. slang (orig. dial.).
(ˈfaɪstɪ)
[f. feist = fist n.2 3 + -y1.]
Aggressive, excitable, touchy.
| 1896, etc. in Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. s.v. Ficety, etc. 1913 H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders 94 Feisty means when a feller's allers wigglin' about, wantin' ever'body to see him, like a kid when the preacher comes. 1926 E. M. Roberts Time of Man 152 That-there feisty bay mare jumped straight upwards and broke the tongue outen the plow. 1965 ‘D. Shannon’ Death-Bringers (1966) xiii. 162 Luther gets a little feisty after a few drinks, and he began to argue with him. 1968 J. Potts Trash Stealer xiii. 148 He couldn't shake her loose—she hung on to his arm, feisty as a terrier. |