mettle
/ˈmɛt(ə)l
/noun [mass noun]
A person’s ability to cope well with difficulties; spirit and resilience: the team showed their true mettle in the second half...
- Although Kelly presents herself as uncomplicated and cheerful, every so often the public glimpse her true mettle.
- It will take sterner tests before we see the true mettle of these Mayo players.
- It is the closest that the PGA Tour has come to links conditions, the ultimate test of a golfer's mettle and patience.
Synonyms
spirit, fortitude, tenacity, strength of character, moral fibre, steel, determination, resolve, resolution, steadfastness, indomitability, backbone, hardihood, pluck, nerve, gameness, courage, courageousness, bravery, gallantry, valour, intrepidity, fearlessness, boldness, daring, audacity;
British Dunkirk spirit
informal guts, grit, spunk
British informal bottle
calibre, character, disposition, nature, temperament, temper, personality, make-up, stamp, kind, sort, variety, mould, kidney, grain
Phrases
be on one's mettle
put someone on their mettle
Origin
Mid 16th century: specialized spelling (used for figurative senses) of metal.
metal from Middle English:
The words metal and mettle (early 17th century) were once the same. Both could refer to a physical material and to a quality. In the 17th century the quality came to be particularly ‘vigour, spiritedness’, originally of horses but later also referring to people. By the mid 18th century the form mettle was being restricted to this, and metal to the material. Their ultimate origin is Greek metallon ‘mine, quarry, metal’.