Definition of SPRITE

sprite

Plural: sprites

Noun

  • A mythical, ethereal being; an elf or fairy.
  • a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers
  • Any of various supernatural beings, loosely defined:
  • A spirit; a soul; a shade.
  • Any of various supernatural beings, loosely defined:
  • An apparition; a ghost.
  • Any of various supernatural beings, loosely defined:
  • An elf, fairy, or goblin; one with a small humanlike physical body.
  • A two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene.
  • A large electrical discharge that occurs high above the cumulonimbus cloud of an active thunderstorm, which appears as a luminous red or orange flash.
  • The green woodpecker, or yaffle (Picus viridis).
  • Any of various African damselflies of the genus Pseudagrion (of which, Australian species are named riverdamsels).
  • A spayed female ferret.
  • Alternative form of spright (“frame of mind, disposition”).

Verb

  • To draw a (specifically) pixel art sprite.

Examples

  • She often used whimsical words like SPRITE to add charm to her Scrabble board.
  • sprited the new NPCs

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English sprite, spryt, spreyte, from Old French esprit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus. Doublet of spirit, spiritus, spirytus, spright, and esprit.
(computer graphics): First used by Danny Hillis at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.
(meteorology): An acronym for Stratospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.

Synonyms

faerie, faery, fairy, fay, goblin

Scrabble Score: 8

sprite: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
sprite: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
sprite: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

sprite: valid Words With Friends Word