courage implies firmness of mind and will in the face of danger or extreme difficulty.
the courage to support unpopular causes
mettle suggests an ingrained capacity for meeting strain or difficulty with fortitude and resilience.
a challenge that will test your mettle
spirit also suggests a quality of temperament enabling one to hold one's own or keep up one's morale when opposed or threatened.
her spirit was unbroken by failure
resolution stresses firm determination to achieve one's ends.
the resolution of pioneer women
tenacity adds to resolution implications of stubborn persistence and unwillingness to admit defeat.
held to their beliefs with great tenacity
Examples of tenacity in a Sentence
If there is a particular tenacity in Islamist forms of terrorism today, this is a product not of Islamic scripture but of the current historical circumstance that many Muslims live in places of intense political conflict.—Max Rodenbeck, New York Book Review, 30 Nov. 2006… everything about a person, even the most blameless of facts, can have the sticky tenacity of a secret.—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2002A tribute to tenacity, the free ascent of Trango Tower was the fulfillment of a cowboy climber's dream.—Todd Skinner, National Geographic, April 1996
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The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Martin uses explosiveness, tenacity and winning mentality to offset a lack of height.—Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 June 2025 But defensive tenacity improved throughout the year, rising to its pinnacle to upset Natick in the state semifinals for a fifth straight appearance in the Div. 1 state final.—Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 21 June 2025 Most had no medical background or professional credentials – just a sense of urgency, tenacity and an unwillingness to look away.—Eden Lowinger, The Conversation, 18 June 2025 Barbato: Ru has said this so many times: The show is about the tenacity of the human spirit.—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 17 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for tenacity
Word History
Etymology
Middle English tenacite, borrowed from Middle French tenacité, borrowed from Latin tenācitāt-, tenācitās, from tenāc-, tenāx "holding fast, tenacious" + -itāt- -itās-ity
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