stalwart
[stawl-wert]
- strongly and stoutly built; sturdy and robust.
- strong and brave; valiant: a stalwart knight.
- firm, steadfast, or uncompromising: a stalwart supporter of the U.N.
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- a physically stalwart person.
- a steadfast or uncompromising partisan: They counted on the party stalwarts for support in the off-year campaigns.
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Origin of stalwart
Stalwart
[stawl-wert]
- a conservative Republican in the 1870s and 1880s, especially one opposed to civil service and other reforms during the administrations of presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for stalwart
Contemporary Examples
The specter of this virus fills some of our most stalwart souls with unreasoning dread even when it is no immediate threat.
We are left with stalwart genres (action, rom com) and classic roles (prude, seductress, jock, backstory-less best friend).
Ellison, a stalwart progressive, was the first Muslim-American elected to Congress.
When the Stalwart vanguard reached the perimeter, their ranks broke in confusion.
Without presidential intervention, the committee would certainly authenticate the Stalwart delegation.
Historical Examples
“A tall and stalwart esquire, methinks,” said Master Headley.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
The stalwart man was buttoned up in a dark overcoat, and carried an umbrella.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
Another voice, stalwart, elated, cut through it like a sword.
The CavalierGeorge Washington Cable
He was the mightiest man of valor in that same day of this our life, stalwart and stately.
BeowulfAnonymous
If I had never had a trouble before I had one now—large, stalwart, robust.
The First ViolinJessie Fothergill
stalwart
- strong and sturdy; robust
- solid, dependable, and courageousstalwart citizens
- resolute and firm
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- a stalwart person, esp a supporter
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Word Origin
Old English stǣlwirthe serviceable, from stǣl, shortened from stathol support + wierthe worth 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for stalwart
adj.
late 14c., Scottish variant of Old English stælwierðe "good, serviceable," probably a contracted compound of staðol "foundation, support" (from Proto-Germanic *stathlaz, from PIE root *sta- "to stand, set down, make or be firm;" see stet) + wierðe "good, excellent, worthy" (see worth). Another theory traces the first element of stælwierðe to Old English stæl "place," from Proto-Germanic *stælaz. In U.S. political history, applied 1877 by Blaine to Republicans who refused to give up their hostility to and distrust of the South.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper