courage

courage n Courage, mettle, spirit, resolution, tenacity are comparable when they mean a quality of mind or temperament which makes one resist temptation to give way in the face of opposition, danger, or hardship.

Courage stresses firmness of mind or purpose and a casting aside of fear (for courage meaning courageousness, see courageous under BRAVE); it implies a summoning of all one's powers in order that one's desires or ends may be achieved

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a reformer must have the courage of his convictions

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but screw your courage to the sticking place, and we'll not fail— Shak.

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the unconquerable will . . . and courage never to submit or yield— Milton

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courage to act on limited knowledge, courage to make the best of what is here and not whine for more— Time

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Mettle suggests an ingrained or characteristic capacity for meeting strain or stress in a manner suggestive of a finely tempered sword blade

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the challenge put him on his mettle

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It often implies qualities (as resiliency, ardor, fearlessness, fortitude, or gallantry associated less with physical strength than with mental or spiritual vigor)

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now I see there's mettle in thee, and even from this instant do build on thee a better opinion than ever before— Shak.

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doing one's bit, putting one's shoulder to the wheel, proving the mettle of the women of England, certainly had its agreeable side— Rose Macaulay

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Spirit, like mettle, refers to a temperamental quality but suggests something more volatile or fragile. It implies an ability to hold one's own, to assert oneself or one's principles, or to keep up one's morale when opposed, interfered with, frustrated, or tempted

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I do not think I can forgive you entirely, even now—it is too much for a woman of any spirit to quite overlook— Hardy

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to quit a comrade on the road, and return home without him: these are tricks which no boy of spirit would be guilty of— Meredith

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successive crop failures had broken the spirit of the farmers— Cather

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Resolution, like courage, implies firmness of mind and purpose, but it stresses determination to achieve one's ends in spite of opposition or interference of men or of circumstances rather than a casting aside of fear of danger or a dread of hardship

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good-humored-looking on the whole, but implacable-looking, too; evidently a man of a strong resolution and a set purpose; a man not desirable to be met rushing down a narrow pass with a gulf on either side, for nothing would turn the man— Dickens

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the General . . . had no resolution, no will of his own, was bullied into the favors he bestowed— Pargellis

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he saw that England was saved a hundred years ago by the high spirit and proud resolution of a real aristocracy— Inge

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Tenacity adds to resolution the implications of stubborn persistence and of unwillingness to acknowledge defeat

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the tenacity of the bulldog breed

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this is not to say that the French lack tenacity.. .. Having determined upon a thing, the French character tends to exceed in its pursuit, and, while fighting for it, to hold out to the death— Belloc

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maintained this conviction with a fearless tenacity— Kirk

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Analogous words: bravery, boldness, audacity, dauntlessness, intrepidity, doughtiness, fearlessness (see corresponding adjectives at BRAVE): valor, *heroism, gallantry: *fortitude, grit, pluck, guts, backbone, sand

Antonyms: cowardice

Contrasted words: timorousness, timidity (see corresponding adjectives at TIMID)