plucky

Each one has her singular presence — Trachtenberg plucky and inspiring; Panettiere charming and bold — but together, they’re beautiful complements.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

What we got instead was plucky Cape Verde playing No. 3 Spain to a draw and becoming the smallest nation to reach the elimination rounds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026

They’re all here, and they have as much overconfident swagger as a plucky young star on the Disney Channel.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

In a series of interviews conducted over several weeks throughout the war, Montazeri paints a plucky portrait of himself, determined and capable of navigating the geopolitical tensions without getting into trouble.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026

Just ask a long-grieving widow whose husband drowned in a medicinal tar pit, or a plucky young governess who spent more than half her life wondering whether she might someday see her parents again.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

When the older animal approached again, one of the pluckier cubs took a cue from its high-ranking mom and stood tall, trying its best to look intimidating.

From National Geographic ● Feb. 8, 2024

Maybe if local papers were pluckier and more assertive about advocating for the people in their communities, those people would be more willing to pay.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2020

It piles on chance encounters, strange resemblance, a secret society and clever heroines such as Jane Austen crafted 40 years before, but even pluckier and less conventional.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2018

Yet Callis has overcome this obstacle by doing what any savvy politician must do when in need of a pluckier yarn: She borrows from her parents and grandparents.

From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2014

"You're the youngest passenger I've ever taken up," he said, "but I've never had a pluckier."

From Ethel Morton at Chautauqua by Mabell S. C. (Mabell Shippie Clarke) Smith

And yet, with a wider view, the Bills remain the pluckiest of NFL underdogs.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2022

Celina Smith is the world’s pluckiest orphan and Taraji P. Henson is the scheming Miss Hannigan in “Annie Live!”

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2021

It's edge-of-the-seat stuff from the off, and when the pluckiest reach the ocean, you'll be punching the air.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 22, 2013

Heck, even the dewiest, pluckiest ingénue would have a hard time staying fresh once she became an endlessly re-marketable brand name.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2012

Yet there are times when even the pluckiest among us fail to follow this sage advice.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood