SPIRIT | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of spirit in English spiritnoun uk /ˈspɪr.ɪt/ us /ˈspɪr.ət/

spirit noun (WAY OF FEELING)

Add to word list Add to word list B2 [ S or U ] a particular way of thinking, feeling, or behaving, especially a way that is typical of a particular group of people, an activity, a time, or a place: team spirit The players have a very strong team spirit (= loyalty to each other).spirit of the age/times As rock musicians in the 1960s, they were very much part of the spirit of the age/times.in a spirit of We acted in a spirit of cooperation.  spirits B2 [ plural ] the way a person is feeling, or that people in general are feeling: in high/low spirits I've been in high/low spirits (= feeling happy/sad) lately. See more  someone's spirits soar (also spirits soar) a person feels much happier or people in general feel much happier: As soon as I left the house and drove away, my spirits soared. Once he had reached the halfway point of the walk, his spirits soared. Our spirits soared when we heard his voice at the end of the line. Spirits soared as she scored the equalizer. In my experience, mountains set the spirits soaring like nothing else.  the spirit of a law, rule, etc. the principle that a law, rule, etc. was created to make stronger, rather than the particular things it says you must or must not do: They followed neither the spirit nor the letter of the law. See more  enter/get into the spirit to show enthusiasm and enjoyment: They went to the tennis club a few times but never really got into the spirit of it. See more  that's the spirit used to approve or encourage someone's positive attitude (= way of thinking) or action: "Come on, we can win this game." "That's the spirit." See more

• The presence of so many outsiders has ruined the community spirit.
• I could never play team sports - I lack the competitive spirit .
• There is a spirit of defeatism among some members of the party.
• She'll make money - she's got that entrepreneurial spirit.
• Our football coach has worked hard to inculcate a team spirit into the players.

Feelings - general words

• affectional
• affectionally
• atmospherically
• aura
• breast
• charged
• come away phrasal verb
• herself
• himself
• lyricism
• mixed feelings
• needy
• non-emotional
• non-material
• sensation
• soulfully
• soulfulness
• spirited
• susceptibility
• team spirit

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Moods

spirit noun (NOT BODY)

C1 [ U ] the characteristics of a person that are considered as being separate from the body, and that many religions believe continue to exist after the body dies: in spirit Although he's now living in America, I feel he's with me in spirit (= I feel he is present and is influencing me, in a way that is not physical). B2 [ C ] the form of a dead person, similar to a ghost, or the feeling that a dead person is present although you cannot see them: an evil spirit The spirits of long-dead warriors seemed to haunt the area.

• After the priest exorcized the spirit/house/child, apparently, the strange noises stopped.
• She claims to have occult powers, given to her by some mysterious spirit.
• This place is visited by the spirits of the dead.
• Her spirit haunts the house.

Mind and personality

• -hearted
• -heartedly
• -heartedness
• alexithymia
• allism
• allistic
• alter ego
• ambivert
• Asperger's syndrome
• gender identity
• gestaltist
• jib
• neurotypical
• neurotypicality
• noddle
• noetic
• noggin
• psychoanalysis
• psychoanalytic
• subconscious

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Souls, spirits & ghosts

spirit noun (ENTHUSIASM)

[ U ] approving enthusiasm, energy, or courage: with spirit The orchestra performed The Rite of Spring with great spirit.break someone's spirit The torture failed to break the prisoner's spirit. Excitement, interest, energy and enthusiasm

• adrenalin rush
• alacrity
• animation
• ardency
• ardour
• fever pitch
• fired up
• flirtation
• for kicks
• frenzy
• nibble
• oomph
• out of interest
• overeagerness
• overenthusiasm
• wahoo
• warmth
• whirligig
• with a bang idiom
• woot

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spirit noun (ALCOHOL)

C1 [ C or U ] a strong alcoholic drink: Vodka is a type of spirit. Spirits are more expensive than beer, but they get you drunk faster. [ U ] Some types of spirit are alcoholic liquids used especially for cleaning, mixing with paint, etc.: white spirit Thin the paint with white spirit. Spirits & distilling

• absinthe
• amaretto
• applejack
• benedictine
• bitter
• crème de cassis
• crème de menthe
• curaçao
• distil
• distillation
• liqueur
• malt
• malt whisky
• mezcal
• mother's ruin
• single malt
• single-shot
• sloe gin
• small-batch
• sotol

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Cleaning agents

Idioms

as, if, when, etc. the spirit moves someone the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak spiritverb uk /ˈspɪr.ɪt/ us /ˈspɪr.ət/  spirit someone/something away, off, out, etc. to move someone or something out of or away from a place secretly: Somehow the prisoners managed to spirit news out to the world outside. We managed to spirit her away to the countryside for a few days. Criminals bought the jewels and spirited them off the island. My task was to get hold of the documents and spirit them out of the country. The only way to protect the boy was to spirit him away from his home town. Transferring and transporting objects

• air freight
• bearer
• blockade runner
• borne
• bring
• carry
• collect
• deliver
• freight train
• goods train
• haulage
• haulier
• heft
• import
• transference
• turnaround
• turnaround time
• uplift
• virement
• wheel

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Moving to avoid being seen (Definition of spirit from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

spirit | American Dictionary

spiritnoun us /ˈspɪr·ɪt/

spirit noun (STATE OF MIND)

Add to word list Add to word list [ U ] a state of mind or attitude: It’s very important to play the game in the right spirit. Rock music in the 1960s expressed the spirit of the times.

spirit noun (INNER CHARACTER)

[ C/U ] the inner character of a person, thought of as different from the material person we can see and touch: [ U ] All her life she remained young in spirit, bubbling with ideas. [ C ] It is a belief of many religions that your spirit lives on after your body dies. [ C/U ] A spirit is also something that can be felt to be present but cannot be seen, similar to a ghost.

spirit noun (ENTHUSIASM)

[ U ] enthusiasm and energy: The orchestra performed the symphony with great spirit. spiritverb [ T always + adv/prep ] us /ˈspɪr·ɪt/

spirit verb [T always + adv/prep] (MOVE)

to move someone or something secretly: [ M ] Everyone wonders who spirited away the body. (Definition of spirit from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of spirit

spirit This single unified spirit is accorded multiple roles. From the Cambridge English Corpus As against professionalism, then, politeness was allied with the spirit of the amateur. From the Cambridge English Corpus It is also true to the spirit of things. From the Cambridge English Corpus Talent is perhaps closest in spirit to gate. From the Cambridge English Corpus Finally, the term also referred to the human soul as well as the "vital spirit" of all living things. From the Cambridge English Corpus But it was unscholarly, in the sense that doubtful and questionable matter was accepted in an uncritical spirit and interspersed among documents of reliable authenticity. From the Cambridge English Corpus One result of the modern spirit is that particular fields of inquiry are segregated. From the Cambridge English Corpus The spirits are also believed significantly to influence life in the human world through their ability to afflict humans with all manner of diseases. From the Cambridge English Corpus Ecological theory is already very close in spirit to economics. From the Cambridge English Corpus The spirit displayed a scroll containing a lengthy summary of his expedition. From the Cambridge English Corpus It was in that spirit that we undertook our task. From the Cambridge English Corpus In the beginning, he and his fellow worshippers truly ranked among the poor in spirit as well as in material goods. From the Cambridge English Corpus The idea is thus close in spirit to the proposals described above. From the Cambridge English Corpus He often spoke about the "human spirit" as a positive force that should be protected and respected. From the Cambridge English Corpus Accounts of visits to mediums were often characterized by highly emotive descriptions of meetings with spirits or messages from the other side. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of spirit These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with spirit

spirit

These are words often used in combination with spirit.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

adventurous spiritI, and all who knew him, will miss his intelligent comments, his adventurous spirit, and his concern for humanity. From the Cambridge English Corpus   ancestral spiritThese visions were produced by a "wakan" or ancestral spirit. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.   bipartisan spiritI wish him every success, in a bipartisan spirit. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0   These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with spirit What is the pronunciation of spirit?

Translations of spirit

in Chinese (Traditional) 感覺方式, 精神, （尤指特定人群、活動、時代或地方的）主導精神… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 感觉方式, 精神, （尤指特定人群、活动、时代或地方的）主导精神… See more in Spanish sentimiento, espíritu, licor… See more in Portuguese espírito, espírito [masculine], vitalidade [feminine]… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian भावना, जोश, आत्मा… See more 精神, 気分, 魂… See more ruh, can, hayalet… See more esprit [masculine], entrain [masculine], fougue [feminine]… See more sentiment, esperit, ànima… See more geest, levenskracht… See more ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட சிந்தனை, உணர்வு அல்லது நடந்துகொள்வது, குறிப்பாக ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட மக்கள் குழு… See more (किसी विशेष समूह, गतिविधि, समय या स्थान की विशिष्ट) विचारधारा… See more વિચારધારા, લાગણી (કોઈ ચોક્કસ જૂથ, પ્રવૃત્તિ… See more ånd, sjæl, åndelig… See more anda, stämning, sinnelag… See more semangat, jiwa… See more der Geist, der Elan… See more ånd [masculine], holdning [masculine], ånd… See more روح, جذبہ جوش, بھوت… See more дух, душа, натхнення… See more ఆలోచించే, అనుభూతిపొందే, లేక ప్రవర్తించే ప్రత్యేకంగా ఒక జనాల జట్టు… See more কোনো বিশেষ গোষ্ঠীর চেতনাবোধ, মনোভাব, আত্মা… See more duch, duch(ovní), odvaha… See more semangat, roh… See more น้ำใจ, จิตใจ, ความมุ่งมั่น… See more tinh thần, linh hồn, hồn ma… See more nastrój, duch, dusza… See more 정신, 영혼… See more spirito, degli spiriti, coraggio… See more Need a translator?

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spiralling spirally spire spirea spirit spirit gum spirit level spirit wear spirited {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of spirit

• team spirit
• free spirit
• Holy Spirit
• spirit gum
• spirit wear
• two-spirit
• Dunkirk spirit

See all meanings

• that's the spirit phrase
• enter/get into the spirit phrase
• the spirit of a law, rule, etc. phrase
• as, if, when, etc. the spirit moves someone idiom
• the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak idiom

See all idioms and phrases

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be resigned to

If you are resigned to something unpleasant, you calmly accept that it will happen.

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• English   
  • Noun 
    • spirit (WAY OF FEELING)
    • spirits
    • someone's spirits soar
    • the spirit of a law, rule, etc.
    • enter/get into the spirit
    • that's the spirit
    • spirit (NOT BODY)
    • spirit (ENTHUSIASM)
    • spirit (ALCOHOL)
  • Verb 
    • spirit someone/something away, off, out, etc.
• American   
  • Noun 
    • spirit (STATE OF MIND)
    • spirit (INNER CHARACTER)
    • spirit (ENTHUSIASM)
  • Verb 
    • spirit (MOVE)
• Examples
• Collocations

• Translations
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