plucky

pluck (“nerve, persistence”) +‎ -y

• IPA^(key): /ˈplʌki/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌki

plucky (comparative pluckier, superlative pluckiest)

1. (informal) Having or showing pluck, courage or spirit in trying circumstances.

   Synonyms: brave, spunky, feisty

   • 1890, W. S. Gilbert, “The Modern Major-General”, in Songs of a Savoyard:

     For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury, / Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century

   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 231:

     "Dam' plucky of you, fixing it up like that. I kept that copper talking...give you a chance. By George, you did it perfectly."

   • 2020 July 29, “Lawmakers From Both Sides Take Aim at Big Tech Executives”, in New York Times‎:

     At the start of the hearing, Mr. Bezos introduced himself as a lucky and humble example of the success of American democracy — the son of a plucky mother and a supportive, immigrant father who “fostered my curiosity and encouraged me to dream big.”

• pluckily
• pluckiness

• “plucky”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.