# lively

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈlaɪv.li/ · frequency rank #8,815

## Definitions
1. Full of life; energetic, vivacious.
2. Bright, glowing, vivid; strong, vigorous.
3. Endowed with or manifesting life; living.
4. Representing life; lifelike.
5. Airy; animated; spirited.
6. Fizzy; foamy; tending to produce a large head in the glass.

## Etymology
From Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English līflīċ (“living, lively, long-lived, necessary to life, vital”), from Proto-West Germanic *lībalīk (“living, lively”), equivalent to life + -ly. Cognate with Scots lively, lifely (“of or pertaining to life, vital, living, life-like”), Old High German līblīh (“living, animated”), German leiblich (“bodily, corporeal”). Doublet of lifely and lifelike.

## Easily confused with
- **Livy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-livy)
- **lives** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-lives)
- **liver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-liver)
- **lovey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-lovey)
- **liven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-liven)
- **lovely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-lovely)
- **lonely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-lonely)
- **livery** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-livery)
- **Lovell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-lovell)
- **Livers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lively-vs-livers)
- **live** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/live-vs-lively)
- **lily** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lily-vs-lively)
- **level** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/level-vs-lively)
- **lived** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lived-vs-lively)
- **Lilly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lilly-vs-lively)
- **libel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/libel-vs-lively)
- **likely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/likely-vs-lively)
- **lately** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lately-vs-lively)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ilvely`, `lievly`, `livelly`, `livelyy`, `liveyl`, `livley`, `livvely`, `llively`, `lviely`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lively