feisty
adjective
[ ˈfʌɪsti ]
• (of a person, typically one who is relatively small) lively, determined, and courageous.
• "a love story with a feisty heroine who's more than a pretty face"
Origin:
late 19th century: from earlier feist, fist ‘small dog’, from fisting cur or hound, a derogatory term for a lapdog, from Middle English fist ‘break wind’, of West Germanic origin. Compare with fizzle.
