The English language has many words for that sparkly, spirited attitude to life, which have been adopted from various languages.

Panache was originally a French term for a tuft of feathers on a helmet and now means flamboyance.

Pizzazz, meaning glamour or vitality, is of unknown origin. Some describe it as ‘an indefinable dynamic quality’.

Brio is vivacity, from Italian, and probably came into the English language via the musical instruction con brio ‘with spirit’.

Charisma comes from the Greek kharisma meaning favour or divine gift. Now we use it to mean charm or personal magnetism.

Spunk means courage or determination and comes from the Gaelic spong meaning ‘tinder’ or ‘spark’.

Verve is from the Latin verbum ‘word’ referring to an earlier meaning of ’flair for speaking and writing’.

Duende is ‘a quality of passion and inspiration’ from the Spanish for ghost.

Je ne sais quoi is a quality that cannot be described. It means ‘I do not know what’ in French.

However, as with all qualities, you can have too much of a good thing.

Chutzpah, originally from Hebrew, means shameless audacity, impudence or excessive self-confidence.

Bravado is a bold manner intended to impress or intimidate, from the Spanish bravo ‘bold’.

Effrontery is impertinent behaviour, bare-faced cheek, from Latin ex ‘out’ and frons ‘forehead’.

Contumely sounds more like an adverb but is a noun meaning insolent language or treatment. It probably comes from the Latin con ‘with’ and tumere ‘swell’.

Hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance and was first used by writers of Greek mythology.

Happy Puzzling!