courageous
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does courageous mean? Courageous means having, showing, or done with courage—the quality of being ready and willing to face negative situations involving danger or pain.Courageous can be used to describe people who have courage, or the actions of such people when they face negative situations resolutely. A close synonym is brave.Being courageous is often thought of as facing such situations without fear, but it also involves facing them despite fear. In other words, someone who’s courageous might not be fearless, but they face the dangerous, difficult, or frightening situation anyway.Example: I especially want to thank our courageous first responders, who face danger every day but still, somehow, decide to show up and put the wellbeing of other people before their own safety.
Related Words
See brave.
Other Word Forms
- courageously adverb
- courageousness noun
- uncourageous adjective
- uncourageously adverb
- uncourageousness noun
Etymology
Origin of courageous
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English corageous, from Anglo-French curajous, Old French corageus, from corage courage + -eus -eous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sophie, especially in that night, the mask makes her brave and courageous; when she takes off the physical mask, that’s when the metaphorical mask actually comes into play.
From Los Angeles Times
What’s needed is a pragmatic and courageous paradigm shift, one that begins with naming and recognizing the contemporary libels used to demonize Jews.
I believe I can help her, but I must be courageous and smart at the same time, which makes me feel like I am a juggler from the circus.
From Literature
"She was a strong girl, a courageous girl, and she was not someone you could control and make decisions for," her uncle told CNN.
From BBC
In a post on X, Pahlavi said "millions of Iranians demanded their freedom tonight", describing the protesters as his "courageous compatriots".
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
