The central problem is a disconnection between didactic ideology, on the one hand, and a more imaginative and irreverent spirit on the other.

But then, as he saw photographs of her in a variety of guises, he grew to like her irreverent spirit.

The irreverent, off-the-cuff spirit of Jay Ward's freewheeling original doesn't really make it to the big screen.

This irreverent spirit was captured on Douglas Wilson's stairway walls.

There is room on late-night television for Mr. Kimmel's raucous, irreverent spirit, but he needs first to find a better way to showcase his talent.

In keeping with the irreverent spirit of the band, they have adopted the song, and it is now sung with gusto at all the football games.

The column was somehow irreverent and very free spirit maybe due to her New York stories, and created controversy all over the country.

The adaptation was faithful to the irreverent spirit of the original while taking illiberal liberties with the text.

But I like the irreverent spirit of a newsroom.

Among other things that seem to have faded: the irreverent, satirical, joyous spirit of an earlier age, especially as expressed in dance.