vivid

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪvɪd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

vivid (plural vivids)

1. (New Zealand) A felt-tipped permanent marker, genericised from the brand.

Adjective

vivid (comparative vivider, superlative vividest)

1. (of perception) Clear, detailed or powerful.
2. (of an image) Bright, intense or colourful.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in 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, in 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

• Catalan: vívid
• Chinese:

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

• Dutch: helder (nl), gedetailleerd (nl), krachtig (nl)
• Finnish: elävä (fi), eloisa (fi)
• French: vivide (fr)
• German: lebendig (de), lebhaft (de)
• Italian: chiaro (it) m, limpido (it) m

• Japanese: 鮮烈 (せんれつ, senretsu), 鮮明 (ja) (せんめい, senmei), 鮮やか (ja) (あざやか, azayaka)
• Portuguese: vívido (pt)
• Russian: живо́й (ru) (živój), я́сный (ru) (jásnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: beò
• Spanish: vívido (es) m
• Turkish: berrak (tr), açık (tr), net (tr)
• Yiddish: בילדעריש‏‎ (bilderish)

bright, intense or colourful

• Belarusian: я́ркі m (járki)
• Catalan: vívid
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鮮豔 (zh), 鲜艳 (zh) (xiānyàn), 鮮明 (zh), 鲜明 (zh) (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)

• Maori: muramura
• Portuguese: vívido (pt), vivo (pt)
• Russian: я́ркий (ru) (járkij)
• Scottish Gaelic: beò
• Spanish: vivo (es) m
• Turkish: parlak (tr), cırlak (tr)
• Yiddish: בילדעריש‏‎ (bilderish)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Romanian: vioi

Further reading

• 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

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