Synonyms and Antonyms of mettlesome
1
having much high-spirited energy and movement
- the mettlesome opening dance number got the audience all jazzed up
active, airy, animate, animated, bouncing, brisk, energetic, frisky, gay, jaunty, jazzy, kinetic, lively, peppy, perky, pert, pizzazzy (or pizazzy), racy, snappy, spanking, sparky, spirited, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy
dapper, dashing, spiffy
agog, alert, awake, open-eyed, up, wide-awake
agile, nimble, spry
bright, buoyant, cheerful, chipper, chirpy, chirrupy, effervescent, sparkly, upbeat
eager, enthusiastic, keen
frolicsome, impish, pixieish, playful
boisterous, bubbly, ebullient, exuberant, high-spirited
high-strung, nervous, skittish
indolent, lazy, unambitious
inert, lethargic, sleepy, sluggish, tired, torpid, weary
apathetic, impassive, phlegmatic, stolid
boring, dull, irksome, tedious
dead, inactive, inanimate, lackadaisical, languid, languishing, languorous, leaden, lifeless, limp, listless, spiritless, vapid
2
marked by a lively display of strong feeling
- a mettlesome debate on the teaching of evolution in the schools
aggressive, ambitious, assertive, high-pressure, in-your-face, militant, pushy
animate, animated, bouncing, bouncy, brisk, energetic, feisty, frisky, jaunty, jazzy, kinetic, peppy, perky, pert, racy, scrappy, snappy, spanking, sparky, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy
ardent, fervent, impassioned, passionate
emphatic, obtrusive
bloodless, boring, dull, lifeless
dead, inanimate, lackadaisical, languid, languorous, limp, listless
inert, lethargic, sleepy, sluggish, tired, torpid
low-pressure, nonassertive, unaggressive, unambitious, unassertive, unenterprising
