From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpluckypluck‧y /ˈplʌki/ adjective informalBRAVE brave and determined – often used in newspapers Plucky Denise saved her younger sister’s life.
Examples from the Corpus
plucky• The plucky 14-year-old was determined however to experience the magic of DisneyWorld and never stopped smiling all week.• The romantic picture of the plucky David girding himself against the brutish Goliath is dangerously misleading.• a plucky heroine• But she's a plucky lady.• This was before the plucky rebels came out of the hills.• Wits and guts - a plucky young woman's tale of escape. 