- brave
- brave adj Brave, courageous, unafraid, fearless, intrepid, valiant, valorous, dauntless, undaunted, doughty, bold, audacious are comparable when they mean having or showing no fear when faced with something dangerous, difficult, or unknown.Brave usually indicates lack of fear in alarming or difficult circumstances rather than a temperamental liking for danger{
the brave soldier goes to meet Death, and meets him without a shudder— Trollope
}{he would send an explosion ship into the harbor ... a brave crew would take her in at night, right up against the city, would light the fuses, and try to escape— Forester
}Courageous implies stouthearted resolution in contemplating or facing danger and may suggest a temperamental readiness to meet dangers or difficulties{I am afraid . . . because I do not wish to die. But my spirit masters the trembling flesh and the qualms of the mind. I am more than brave, I am courageous— London
}{a man is courageous when he does things which others might fail to do owing to fear— Russell
}Unafraid simply indicates lack of fright or fear whether because of a courageous nature or because no cause for fear is present{enjoy their homes unafraid of violent intrusion— MacArthur
}{a young, daring, and creative people—a people unafraid of change— MacLeish
}Fearless may indicate lack of fear, or it may be more positive and suggest undismayed resolution{joyous we too launch out on trackless seas, fearless for unknown shores— Whitman
}{he gives always the impression of fearless sincerity . . . one always feels that he is ready to say bluntly what every one else is afraid to say— T. S. Eliot
}Intrepid suggests either daring in meeting danger or fortitude in enduring it{with the intrepid woman who was his wife, and a few natives, he landed there, and set about building a house and clearing the scrub— Maugham
}{the intrepid guardians of the place, hourly exposed to death, with famine worn, and suffering under many a perilous wound— Wordsworth
}Valiant suggests resolute courage and fortitude whether in facing danger or in attaining some end{this valiant, steadfast people [of Yugoslavia], whose history for centuries has been a struggle for life— Sir Winston Churchill
}Valorous suggests illus-trious bravery and, more often than valiant, qualifies accomplishments rather than persons or their exertions; thus, one might refer to the valorous deeds of a valiant band of knights{the regiment itself is a proud one, with a valorous record— Infantry Jour.
}Dauntless emphasizes determination, resolution, and fearlessness despite danger or difficulty{the dauntless English infantry were receiving and repelling the furious charges— Thackeray
}{nothing appalled her dauntless soul— Beckford
}Undaunted indicates continued courage and resolution after danger, hardship, or defeat{he watched them at the points of greatest danger falling under the shots from the scorpions, and others stepping undaunted into their places to fall in the same way— Froude
}Doughty combines the implications of formidable, sturdy, and brave but may have an archaic or humorous suggestion{when Fisk reached the head of the stairs leading to the boardroom, the doughty president of the endangered railway knocked him down to the ground floor— Charles & Mary Beard
}{so doughty a warrior must break a lance— Partington
}Bold may indicate a forward or defiant tendency to thrust oneself into difficult or dangerous situations{it was a bold man who dared to walk alone through hundreds of miles of lion-infested country with nothing but a spear in his hand to seek work and adventure— Cloete
}{these fellows who attacked the inn tonight— bold, desperate blades, for sure— Stevenson
}{he knew a fool and a tyrant in high places, and was bold to call them by their true names— Partington
}When used of immaterial things (as plans, experiments, or deeds) bold suggests a disregard for danger, risk, or convention{a bold scheme to corner the wheat market
}Audacious implies spirited and sometimes reckless daring{the place where the fiery Ethan Allen first sketched his audacious move against Ticonderoga— Schulberg
}{hitherto no liberal statesman has been so audacious as to . . . lay profane hands on the divine right of nations to seek their own advantage at the cost of the rest— Veblen
}Analogous words: daring, venturesome, daredevil, *adventurous: heroic, gallant (see corresponding nouns at HEROISM): plucky, gritty (see corresponding nouns at FORTITUDE)Antonyms: cravenbrave vb dare, defy, beard, *face, challenge
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
