noun
sprite
spryt
noun
1
A small supernatural being, such as an elf or fairy, in folklore.
"The story described a mischievous sprite living in the forest."
2
(computing) A small 2D image or animation used in video games and graphics.
"The programmer swapped in a new sprite for the character’s jump animation."
How to Use Sprite
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a magical folklore creature, or (in computing) a small image used to animate a game character.
Common pairings
forest sprite
game sprite
sprite sheet
Word Forms
sprited past tense, Sprites plural, sprites singular
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The story described a mischievous _____ living in the forest.
Etymology
From Old French esprit ("spirit"), from Latin spiritus — a doublet of "spirit". The computer-graphics sense was coined at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.