noun
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courage; spirit
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inherent character
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roused to putting forth one's best efforts
Etymology
Origin of mettle
1575–85; spelling variant of metal, in metaphoric usages
Explanation
Mettle is the courage to carry on. If someone wants to "test your mettle," they want to see if you have the heart to follow through when the going gets tough. Having the mettle to do something means you have guts. In short, you're a pretty impressive person. If you have the intellectual mettle to enter a political debate, not only do you know a lot about politics, but you have the spunk to show it off. Metal and mettle were once used interchangeably meaning a solid material like gold and the "stuff a person is made of" — until everyone got confused and the words went their separate ways.
Vocabulary lists containing mettle
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Tragedy of Macbeth
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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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.
At Hollywood Forever, Geese showed they did indeed have the mettle to run their scabrous noise into arenas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
But in recent years, they have rediscovered their mettle.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
It will also test the mettle of the front-runners.
From Slate ● May 26, 2026
Much has been made of Dean's ability to hold her mettle in chases.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
The cook, placed upon her mettle, served a delicious repast—a luscious tenderloin broiled à point.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
