1
: remarkable of its kind
2
: being fresh and strong : brisk
Synonyms
Adjective
- active
- airy
- animate
- animated
- bouncing
- brisk
- energetic
- frisky
- gay
- jaunty
- jazzy
- kinetic
- lively
- mettlesome
- peppy
- perky
- pert
- pizzazzy
- pizazzy
- racy
- snappy
- sparky
- spirited
- sprightly
- springy
- vital
- vivacious
- zippy
Adverb
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- heavily
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- most
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Examples of spanking in a Sentence
Adjective
a spanking and speedy little horse
Adverb
He keeps his apartment spanking clean.
the bathroom tiles were spanking white when she finished cleaning them
Recent Examples on the Web
Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 27 Jan. 2025
Owner Ted Leonsis will not move to a spanking new facility in Northern Virginia.
—Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
Christina Capatides, CBS News, 11 May 2018
Is this just about opportunistic politicians dipping into state coffers so they can be photographed cutting the ribbon at a spanking new factory?
—New York Times, 8 May 2018
See all Example Sentences for spanking 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
The rapper born Jeffrey Bruce Atkins was all over the place, promoting his spanking new Amber & Opal, a top shelf honey botanical whiskey.
—Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 27 Jan. 2025
Owner Ted Leonsis will not move to a spanking new facility in Northern Virginia.
—Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
Adverb
There was Vice President Biden's inaugural bromance selfie with President Obama on his brand spanking new Instagram account.
—Christina Capatides, CBS News, 11 May 2018
Is this just about opportunistic politicians dipping into state coffers so they can be photographed cutting the ribbon at a spanking new factory?
—New York Times, 8 May 2018
See all Example Sentences for spanking
Dictionary Entries Near spanking
Cite this Entry
“Spanking.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spanking. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
spanking
1 of 2 adjective
spank·ing
ˈspaŋ-kiŋ 
: brisk sense 1, lively
a spanking breeze
spanking
2 of 2 adverb
: very entry 2 sense 2
a spanking clean floor
spanking new
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share