vivid

English

Etymology

From Latin vividus (“animated, spirited”), from vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”), Ancient Greek βίος (bios, “life”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvɪvɪd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

vivid (plural vivids)

1. (New Zealand) A felt-tipped permanent marker.

Adjective

vivid (comparative more vivid, superlative most vivid)

1. (of perception)  Clear, detailed or powerful.
2. (of an image)  Bright, intense or colourful.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, The China Governess^[1]:

     The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded, but the carpet, which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise.

3. Full of life, strikingly alive.
   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 32, The Dust of Conflict^[2]:

     The vivid, untrammeled life appealed to him, and for a time he had found delight in it; but he was wise and knew that once peace was established there would be no room in Cuba for the Sin Verguenza.

Derived terms

• vividness
• vividly

Related terms

• devive
• revive
• survive
• viable
• vital

Translations

clear, detailed or powerful

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 生動 (cmn), 生动 (cmn) (shēngdòng), 鮮烈 (cmn), 鲜烈 (cmn) (xiānliè), 鮮明 (cmn), 鲜明 (cmn) (xiānmíng)

• Dutch: helder (nl), gedetailleerd (nl), krachtig (nl)
• Finnish: elävä (fi), eloisa (fi)
• French: vivide (fr)

• German: lebendig (de), lebhaft (de)
• Japanese: 鮮烈 (ja) (せんれつ, senretsu), 鮮明 (ja) (せんめい, senmei), 鮮やか (ja) (あざやか, azayaka)
• Russian: живой (ru) (živój), ясный (ru) (jásnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: beò (gd)

bright, intense or colourful

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鮮豔 (cmn), 鲜艳 (cmn) (xiānyàn), 鮮明 (cmn), 鲜明 (cmn) (xiānmíng)

• Czech: živý (cs) m
• Dutch: helder (nl), intens (nl), kleurrijk (nl)levendig (nl)

• Finnish: elävä (fi)
• Japanese: 鮮明 (ja) (せんめい, senmei)
• Russian: яркий (ru) (járkij)
• Scottish Gaelic: beò (gd)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Romanian vioi

External links

• vivid in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• vivid in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Spanish

Verb

vivid (infinitive vivir)

1. (Spain) Informal second-person plural (vosotros or vosotras) affirmative imperative form of vivir.