mettle
Noun: 1. A person's inherent ability to cope with difficulty, challenge, or hardship; their spirit, resilience, and fortitude. It refers to the inner strength of character that allows someone to persevere. 2. The quality of being spirited, courageous, and determined. It often implies a combination of bravery and endurance.
The word "mettle" is used to describe the core strength of a person's character, especially when it is revealed or tested by difficult circumstances. It is a formal and somewhat literary term.
Examples: * The long, grueling expedition tested the mettle of every climber. * She showed her true mettle when she calmly handled the crisis. * The team's mettle was proven by their comeback victory in the final minutes.
- To be on one's mettle: To be in a situation that requires one to do one's best, as one's abilities are being tested or challenged.
- The difficult interview questions really put the candidate on her mettle.
- To prove one's mettle: To demonstrate one's strength of character and ability.
- He finally had a chance to prove his mettle as a leader during the project's failure.
- Mettlesome (adjective): Spirited, courageous, and full of energy.
- The mettlesome young horse was difficult to tame.
- Spirit
- Fortitude
- Resilience
- Grit
- Backbone
- Courage
- Determination
- Resolve
- To test someone's mettle: To challenge someone in a way that reveals their true character and strength.
- The military training was designed to test the recruits' mettle.
- the courage to carry on
- he kept fighting on pure spunk
- you haven't got the heart for baseball