plucky

adjective

Definition of pluckynext
as in brave
informal having or showing a lot of courage or determination A plucky young man who never gave up on his dream.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of plucky Rule Breakers proves scattershot in its storytelling and features one or two too many last-minute crises for its plucky heroines to overcome. — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Mar. 2025 The ranch consistently turns out matriarchs who are plucky and resolute in the ways Alex has demonstrated. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 23 Feb. 2025 Of the 29 exhibitors and project spaces, there is a large number of local and international talent, with a mix of plucky newcomers and top-tier galleries including P.P.O.W. and Sprüth Magers. — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 22 Feb. 2025 On top of that, the bifurcated score underlines the film’s identity crisis, oscillating between plucky guitar compositions from Andrew Simon McAllister better suited to a buddy-cop comedy and smooth, synth-heavy instrumentals from Mono Town that align more with a sleek spy flick. — Courtney Howard, Variety, 20 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for plucky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plucky
  1. brave
  2. courageous
  3. valiant
  4. fearless
  5. determined
  6. gallant
  7. resolute
  8. heroic
Adjective
  • LaBruce’s idiosyncrasy is connected to the fearless audacity of his brave, tragic inspiration, Pasolini.
    — Armond White, National Review, 19 Mar. 2025
  • This industry is wild, man, with brave human beings who can look at something for its wholeness and take the crookeds with the straights, to quote August Wilson.
    — Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2025
Definition of brave
Adjective
  • Her courageous work in eastern Ukraine stands in direct contrast to Trump and Putin, who heap praise on each other and ignore the devastation to Ukraine, an ignorance that not even death and injury to women and children can penetrate.
    — Bob Kustra, Chicago Tribune, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The book’s premise revolves around Zachary, a courageous eight-year-old diagnosed with a terminal pediatric cancer, who has an enlightening dream where God approaches him with a mission.
    — Catharine Kaufman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Mar. 2025
Definition of courageous
Adjective
  • The animal fell into an icy river in the Xinjiang city of Kashgar recently, according to footage of the valiant rescue effort and a description shared by Newsflare.
    — Brenton Blanchet, People.com, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The rest of the episode shows the Current’s valiant efforts despite the loss in the NWSL semifinals against Orlando.
    — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 7 Mar. 2025
Definition of valiant
Adjective
  • Set in December 2001, amid a devastating crisis, Lali, 18, flees with fearless teenage guerrillas convinced that Carlos Menem is to blame for the country’s collapse, determined to meet the former president in his lavish mansion in Anillaco and assassinate him.
    — John Hopewell, Variety, 14 Mar. 2025
  • One suspects that six years on, Lloyd’s more fearless about putting his own stamp — with both feet — on Evita.
    — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 14 Mar. 2025
Definition of fearless
Adjective
  • The tech giant—now named Meta—seems determined to make this happen itself.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 22 Mar. 2025
  • Isolated from her team (and her infant son Nico), Meyers Taylor was determined to control her situation.
    — Tim Genske, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025
Definition of determined
Adjective
  • An elaborate ideology confers legitimacy upon the Kim family: according to the country’s founding myth, Kim Il Sung led a gallant band of guerilla fighters in the bitter winds of Manchuria to defeat the Japanese, liberate the Korean people, and establish the North Korean state.
    — JENNIFER LIND, Foreign Affairs, 25 Oct. 2010
  • In stereotypical movies, the gallant hero saves the damsel through daring, dramatic action.
    — Amanda Nguyen, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
Definition of gallant
Adjective
  • Unique, however, is resolute and reveals a personal betrayal.
    — Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 6 Mar. 2025
  • Even many Republicans who bristled at the tens of billions of dollars in aid packages that Congress approved for Ukraine were resolute that Russia and Vladimir V. Putin, its president, were the aggressors in the conflict.
    — Karoun Demirjian, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025
Definition of resolute
Adjective
  • Sometimes there’s a mystery to solve, sometimes there’s romance to resolve and this year Trauma Code even incorporated heroic action scenes.
    — Joan MacDonald, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025
  • The task demanding such heroic efforts was to select the American wines that would compete in the reenactment of one of modern history’s most pivotal wine competitions.
    — David Rosoff, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2025
Definition of heroic

Browse Nearby Words

plucky
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Plucky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plucky. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on plucky

Nglish: Translation of plucky for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
dog-in-disguise
Rhyme Disguise Quiz Pair up words that look different but sound alike.
See All