courage implies firmness of mind and will in the face of danger or extreme difficulty.
the courage to support unpopular causes
mettle suggests an ingrained capacity for meeting strain or difficulty with fortitude and resilience.
a challenge that will test your mettle
spirit also suggests a quality of temperament enabling one to hold one's own or keep up one's morale when opposed or threatened.
her spirit was unbroken by failure
resolution stresses firm determination to achieve one's ends.
the resolution of pioneer women
tenacity adds to resolution implications of stubborn persistence and unwillingness to admit defeat.
held to their beliefs with great tenacity
Example Sentences
Noun the spirits of my ancestors Some religions believe that the same spirit is reincarnated many times in different bodies. Yoga is very healthy for both body and spirit. We will all miss her generous spirit. My father was a proud spirit. Verb The singer was spirited away in a limousine after the show. Some of the funds had been spirited away to other accounts. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
To understand why the new president hoped to channel Adams’ spirit is to discover not only where a daring revolutionary came from but where a revolution did. Stacy Schiff, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Sep. 2022 But the day’s lower dew points, reflecting a decline in spirit-sapping humidity, might nevertheless have been a plausible explanation. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2022 During his hammy final cadenza, Velasco parlayed a bebop-y solo into a spirit-band-style ditty, all served with a generous heaping of stank. Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2022 Armed with a spellbinding love for making music, embracing her authentic self, and lighthearted youthful spirit, Tate is excited about what the future has in store for her. Walaa Elsiddig, Billboard, 20 Sep. 2022 Many brujxs typically use their magic as a form of healing and connection to their ancestors, often relying on spirit guides to assist in their practice. Marilyn La Jeunesse, Allure, 19 Sep. 2022 Monthly line-dancing nights further fuel the small-town spirit, though the mechanical-bull rides are best left to those with no backsides — or egos — to bruise. Tim Chan, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2022 What spirit are you, that walks this castle in such strange raiment? Jay Martel, The New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2022 Ernie Els was the captain who gave his side a new logo, a new identity and a fighting spirit. Doug Ferguson, ajc, 19 Sep. 2022
Verb
For Puerto Rican audiences, Latin pop concerts are no passive spectator sport, but rather an invigorating experience, and on the island no indoor performance space captures that spirit better than Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot. Isabela Raygoza, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2022 Finally in Mexico, a taxi driver promised to take them to a crossing point, only to spirit them to an isolated place where they were robbed at gunpoint. Doug Struck, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 July 2022 Within days of the war erupting, Moldovan officials said, Moldovan gangs posted advertisements on Telegram, a popular messaging service in Eastern Europe, offering to arrange cars, even minibuses, to spirit out draft dodgers.New York Times, 10 Apr. 2022 Poland has established a logistics center to collect much of the assistance and spirit it over the border, two E.U. policymakers said.Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2022 When the door burst open and several people rush in, grab her, and forcefully spirit her into their van. Erik Kain, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2022 Its operations stretch across Syria, including workshops that manufacture the pills, packing plants where they are concealed for export and smuggling networks to spirit them to markets abroad.New York Times, 5 Dec. 2021 Seems like those ghosts don’t get much of a chance to spirit away an everyday car. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2021 In that case, presumably, the thief that has broken into a self-driving car could try to verbally instruct the AI driving system to spirit away with the car. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French, espirit, spirit, from Latin spiritus, literally, breath, from spirare to blow, breathe