as in strength
strength of spirit; ability to continue despite difficulties
He showed his mettle as a fighter tonight with a heroic comeback.
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Recent Examples of mettle
Played with exuberance by Jacob Laval, Austin is a disrupter and catalyst, a lesson in joyful mettle to everyone around him — especially his parents (Zachary Levi and Meghann Fahy).
—
Sheri Linden, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Gold showed its mettle (so to speak) on Black Monday in 1987, amid the popping of the dot-com bubble in 2001, during the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 and also the pandemic’s onset in 2020.
—Larry Light, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2025
He is also worshiped in Canada for his skill, mettle and scoring of the gold medal-winning overtime goal in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
—Billy Witz, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
Another film, premiering next year, will create an immersive extreme sports environment to test attendees’ mettle.
—Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mettle
Sheri Linden, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Gold showed its mettle (so to speak) on Black Monday in 1987, amid the popping of the dot-com bubble in 2001, during the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 and also the pandemic’s onset in 2020.
—Larry Light, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2025
He is also worshiped in Canada for his skill, mettle and scoring of the gold medal-winning overtime goal in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
—Billy Witz, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
Another film, premiering next year, will create an immersive extreme sports environment to test attendees’ mettle.
—Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mettle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mettle
Noun
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Today's demonstrations show the strength of our growing movement, powered by people of all walks of life coming together to demand investments in our communities, not more cages.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Apr. 2025
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The organization will have to rely on the overall strength of its 40-man roster and rework the bullpen on the fly.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In both world wars, the key to victory was not so much military prowess as unbeatable stamina.—
Lawrence D. Freedman,
Foreign Affairs,
14 Apr. 2025
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Speed and stamina are core aspects of their role, and for most, these take a nosedive around these ages.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Hugo saw that something as simple as shoes could be solved with the right approach and insights, cementing his belief in the power of technology to solve real-world problems.—
Jason Phillips,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2025
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Earlier this month, it was revealed that Massive Entertainment's ambitious action-adventure game would be coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025, which speaks well about the raw graphical power of Nintendo's new hybrid console.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
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There comes a moment for every leader when the clearest sign of strength is found not in agreement, compromise, or accommodation but in the clarity and courage to firmly say no.—
Dan Pontefract,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025
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Adding to the timeliness of this welter of Weill is the composer’s reputation for political courage.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mettle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mettle. Accessed 28 Apr. 2025.
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