courage

noun

cour·​age ˈkər-ij 

ˈkə-rij

: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

A new friend … helps her find the courage to talk about her feelings.

—Suzanne Costner

Lina provides the truest example in the play of how to live independently, with courage and heart.

—Charles McNulty

In the end, the movie doesn't have the courage of its convictions.

—Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Synonyms of courage

• bravery
• heroism
• gallantry
• courageousness
• prowess
• nerve

Choose the Right Synonym for courage

courage, mettle, spirit, resolution, tenacity mean mental or moral strength to resist opposition, danger, or hardship.

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 courage in a Sentence

Eunice Kennedy Shriver … didn't buy into the propaganda of her day that women had to be soft and submissive. That took courage back then, because she grew up in a family that expected a lot from the boys and very little from the girls. —Maria Shriver, Time, 26 Oct. 2009

Sometimes when I debate whether to risk my individuality or conform, the memory of my son's picture brings me courage. —Sue Monk Kidd, Reader's Digest, August 1990

But as long as your courage holds out you may as well go right ahead making a fool of yourself. All brave men are fools. —Robert Frost 17 Apr. 1915, in Selected Letters of Robert Frost,  1964

She has the courage to support unpopular causes.

It takes courage to stand up for your rights.

Recent Examples on the Web

Though mortally wounded, Diller managed to rip the gun out of the shooter’s hand, a final act of courage that also was caught on camera. —Sheetal Banchariya, New York Daily News, 11 Mar. 2026

This is a chance to rewrite an old memory with compassion and quiet courage. —Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 10 Mar. 2026

The director, who wanted to tell an epic adventure where emotional courage was as powerful as magic, crafted this tale about identity, sisterhood and belonging, aimed at family audiences with strong crossover appeal for epic fantasy audiences, with strong female leads. —Kevin Giraud, Variety, 10 Mar. 2026

The Failure of Inside Safe Perhaps no issue better illustrates the gap between Raman’s rhetoric and Huang’s courage than the Inside Safe program. —Caleb W Crowder, Daily News, 10 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English corage, from Anglo-French curage, from quer, coer heart, from Latin cor — more at heart

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing courage

• courage under fire
• Dutch courage
• pluck up (the) courage
• screw up the/one's courage
• (someone's) courage fails him/her
• the courage of one's convictions

Rhymes for courage

• burrage
• demurrage
• discourage
• encourage

Kids Definition

courage

noun

cour·​age ˈkər-ij 

ˈkə-rij

: strength of mind to carry on in spite of danger or difficulty

Etymology

Middle English corage "the heart as a source of feelings, spirit, confidence," from early French curage (same meaning), from coer "heart," from Latin cor "heart" — related to cordial