spry
/spɹaɪ/adjective
spry is spelled S-P-R-Y: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, spry means “Having great power of leaping or running; nimble; active” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in spry?
| Letters | 4: S-P-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is spry?
Spry appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce spry?
- /spɹaɪ/
Spry has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-spry.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of spry
- sprier comparative
- spriest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spry mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having great power of leaping or running; nimble; active.
- 2
Vigorous; lively; cheerful; sprightly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spry in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense nimble, active:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | actif, vif, alerte, vigilant |
| German | agil, beweglich, rüstig |
| Portuguese | ágil, ativo, serelepe |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does spry come from?
From British dialectal sprey, from Old Norse sprækr (“nimble, lively”) from Proto-Germanic *sprēkiz (“lively”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)preg- (“to strew, jerk, sprinkle, scatter”). Cognate with Icelandic sprækur (“lively, spry”), Norwegian sprek (“lively, healthy”), dialectal Swedish sprygg (“brisk, very active, skittish”). More at spark. Related to sprack, sprig, sprug, freckle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).