zestyhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zesty_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezesty, adj.
Revised 2018

zestyadjective

  1. 1.
    1826–
    Of a taste, smell, or food: piquant, tangy, agreeably sharp; flavoursome.
    1. 1826
      The hung beef saluted my nostrils with such a zesty odour.
      R. P. Gillies, Tales Voyager to Arctic Ocean vol. I. 69
    2. 1887
      The lump of zesty bait is lowered into the water, and the flavor of this liberal morsel will scent the current down a full square.
      Times (Philadelphia) 18 July
    3. 1936
      Mix it with orange, lemon, grapefruit, pineapple juices or with ginger ale for a zesty pick-up.
      New York Herald-Tribune 25 August 8
    4. 1953
      The meal was plain and good, with the zesty taste of country cooking.
      ‘A. Bridge’, Place to Stand v. 67
    5. 2007
      It's a lively, zesty wine.
      Wine & Spirit May 80/2
  2. 2.
    1853–
    figurative. Characterized by energy or vigour; lively, spirited; invigorating, stimulating. Cf. zest n.1 3.
    1. 1853
      Fresh and fragrant are the leaves which Fanny Fern has inserted in her portfolio. A more zesty, readable book does not often present itself.
      Christian Parlor Magazine vol. 10 251/1
    2. 1876
      Ready, fluent, and never hesitating for a word, the flood poured at command, as zesty and sparkling as a river of champagne.
      Southern Law Review October 526
    3. 1911
      Nothing ever disappointed our zesty imagination more than these celebrated plains.
      Travel July 447/1
    4. 1952
      Zesty as a two-year-old rounding into the stretch, Britain's aged Prime Minister Winston Churchill last week entered his 79th year enthusiastically agallop on all his old hobbies.
      Time 15 December 33/1
    5. 1972
      Housing starts remain zesty, at an annual rate of 2,500,000 units in recent months.
      Time 17 April 43/2
    6. 2007
      They were eager to prove that the years had not dampened their spirits as they charged through a zesty rendition of their old hit Stop!
      Daily Telegraph (Nexis) 17 November 9

zesty, adj. was revised in June 2018.

zesty, adj. was last modified in June 2025.