valiant

1 of 2

adjective

val·​iant ˈval-yənt 

1

: possessing or acting with bravery or boldness : courageous

valiant soldiers

2

: marked by, exhibiting, or carried out with courage or determination : heroic

valiant feats

valiantly adverb

valiantness noun

valiant

2 of 2

noun

: a valiant person

Synonyms

Adjective

• brave
• courageous
• gallant
• heroic
• fearless
• heroical

Examples of valiant in a Sentence

Adjective

She died last year after a valiant battle with cancer.

Despite their valiant efforts, they lost the game.

She made a valiant attempt to fix the problem.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Still, Jurassic World Rebirth makes a valiant effort to put its own terrifying spin on the source material. —Megan McCluskey, Time, 3 July 2025

Despite his valiant efforts, however, Gi-hun doesn’t make it out of this story alive. —Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 28 June 2025

For the second time this season, the Valkyries put up a valiant effort against the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty but couldn’t find a way to win down the stretch. —Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 26 June 2025

Plum’s absence was sorely felt as what began as a valiant effort by the Sparks — keeping pace with the visiting Storm through the first half — quickly unraveled into a 98-67 blowout loss Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English vailant, valiant, borrowed from Anglo-French vaillant "worthy, strong, courageous," from present participle of valer "to be of worth," going back to Latin valēre "to have strength, be well" — more at wield

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1589, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

valiant

1 of 2 adjective

val·​iant ˈval-yənt 

1

: boldly brave

2

: done with courage : heroic

valiantly adverb

valiant

2 of 2 noun

: a valiant person