Part of my homework for a class was to describe the type of city I would like to live in. Just so that you don't think I'm completely unimaginative when it comes to description, this was not for a creative writing class. It was for a Russian class and the objective was to practice using adjectives in Russian (naturally).
As is usually the case, I didn't have much time to do the homework and so, during the class, I just came up with simple adjectives I already knew. But after class, I usually try to to devote some time to reviewing the session. For all the obvious reasons, I still wanted to keep it simple, but I also wanted to try to expand my Russian vocabulary at the same time. But first I had to decide on which word in English I wanted to use.
I first thought of "lively," then "vibrant," and then "bustling" and then realized I just couldn't settle on one without more information. I am leaning toward "lively" because I am familiar with the phrase "lively discussion" and know that it has a certain nuance of "intellectual" in it, but does that same meaning carry over when referring to a city? I'm least inclined to choose "bustling" because I believe it lacks the undertones of intellect that come with "lively" and the images of color that come with "vibrant."
I haven't done much research on this other than take a cursory look at some definitions, but I did also run these words through Google's Ngram, first just the words themselves and then again paired with the word "city." I wasn't expecting this, but, oddly enough, the frequencies are inverted when you add the word "city."
Be that as it may, I know this forum is chock full of intellectuals who have a far better command of the English language than I, so I thought I'd post this here for your invaluable insight.
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Best Answer
The Lexico online dictionary from Oxford dictionaries provides the following definitions of the three words as applied to places:
So, when it comes to describing a place, all three words are very close synonyms of each other. I would suggest, though, that "lively" and "vibrant" are closer to each other in meaning than to "bustling". I tend to think, and the definitions suggest this, that "bustling" carries connotations of a lot of activity and crowded streets but not necessarily of exciting nightlife or artistic expression. That is a place can be "bustling" with routine commercial activity without being "lively" or "vibrant".
If there is a difference in meaning (as related to a place) between "lively" and "vibrant" I would say that a place with a "vibrant" atmosphere could be thought to be home to more originality and creative activity whereas a "lively" one might be a place with lots of well-patronised bars and nightclubs but not necessarily one where the unexpected might happen. Conversely a "vibrant" place might actually be slightly less physically busy than either a "lively" or "bustling" one.
Having said that it is worth comparing the other definitions of the words which will show you that, though they are close synonyms when used to describe places they have divergent definitions when used for other purposes and, perhaps more importantly, that each word can be used in contexts that the other two cannot. For example the dictionary suggests that you can describe colours as "vibrant", a person's personality or demeanour as "vibrant" or "lively", their movements as "lively" or "bustling" but only their movements as "bustling".
This means that you do not have "bustling" colours, colour schemes or personalities. Neither do you get "vibrant" movements. Also while you do sometimes see colour schemes described as "lively" individual colours are usually referred to as "vibrant" if they have a stimulating effect.