Meaning
In a cheerful, lively, and energetic mood.
It describes an outwardly visible good mood — often used about a group’s collective energy at an event, not just one person’s private feelings.
Origin
A popular idea connects this phrase to 18th-century distilled alcohol (“spirits”), suggesting drinking lifted people’s mood — but the chronology actually runs the other way. The word “spirit,” from Latin “spiritus” (breath, vital force), was already used in English by the 16th century to describe a person’s mood or vitality, as in “good spirits” or “low spirits” — Shakespeare used “spirits” in exactly this emotional sense repeatedly. Distilled alcohol was given the same word, “spirits,” because early chemists and alchemists believed distillation extracted the concentrated, almost supernatural “spirit” or essence of a substance — meaning both the mood sense and the alcohol sense of “spirit” descend independently from the same older Latin root, rather than one being derived from the other, and the popular liquor-based explanation for “high spirits” reverses the actual order of development.
Examples
The whole team was in high spirits after the win.
She arrived in high spirits despite the early flight.
The kids were in high spirits on the last day of school.
A: “How was the party?” B: “Everyone was in high spirits.”
Frequently asked questions
What does 'In high spirits' mean?
In a cheerful, lively, and energetic mood.
It describes an outwardly visible good mood — often used about a group’s collective energy at an event, not just one person’s private feelings.