Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Perceived as bright and distinct; brilliant.
  • adjective Having intensely bright colors.
  • adjective Having a very high degree of saturation.
  • adjective Presented in clear and striking manner.
  • adjective Perceived or felt with the freshness of immediate experience.
  • adjective Active in forming lifelike images.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Exhibiting the appearance of life or freshness; animated; bright; clear; lively; fresh; strong; intense: as, the vivid colors of the rainbow; the vivid green of flourishing vegetables.
  • Producing a distinct and strong impression on the mind; presented to the mind with exceptional clearness and force; of a mental faculty. having a clear and vigorous action.
  • Synonyms Lucid, striking, lustrous, luminous, vigorous.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective True to the life; exhibiting the appearance of life or freshness; animated; spirited; bright; strong; intense.
  • adjective Forming brilliant images, or painting in lively colors; lively; sprightly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun New Zealand A felt-tipped permanent marker.
  • adjective clear, detailed or powerful
  • adjective of an image bright, intense or colourful
  • adjective full of life, strikingly alive

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having the clarity and freshness of immediate experience
  • adjective having striking color
  • adjective evoking lifelike images within the mind
  • adjective (of color) having the highest saturation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin vīvidus, from vīvere, to live; see gwei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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