have the guts

Idioms  

1. Possess the courage, as in Does he have the guts to dive off the high board? This expression replaces the earlier and now obsolete sense of stomach as “courage,” a usage from the early 1500s. [Slang; late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

have the guts

Will this crop of European leaders have the guts?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

“They have to have the guts to put their stars on the table.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025

"Every time you get your heart broken you have to bounce back and it makes for a better story – but you have to have the guts to keep going after it," Rotella added.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2025

But he doesn't have the guts to admit it, instead continuing to play-act like he's a great man, even though no one is buying the act.

From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2023

“Make yourself meaner and meaner until you make me break up with you because you don’t have the guts to break up with me?”

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway