as in valiant
feeling or displaying no fear by temperament
he made the manful decision to stick by his friends when everyone else had abandoned them
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Recent Examples of manful
Intermittent fasting was of a piece with an interest in manful self-improvement via stoicism.
—
Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2024
Camping with a rogue dynamiter, Siringo stuck elk horns into two neighboring peaks and claimed to have named the mountains in honor of their manful bond.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 14 Aug. 2023
The other deputies smiled, ready to toast the capital with manful drafts of vodka.
—Alex Halberstadt, Town & Country, 9 Oct. 2015
Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2024
Camping with a rogue dynamiter, Siringo stuck elk horns into two neighboring peaks and claimed to have named the mountains in honor of their manful bond.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 14 Aug. 2023
The other deputies smiled, ready to toast the capital with manful drafts of vodka.
—Alex Halberstadt, Town & Country, 9 Oct. 2015
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manful
Adjective
-
Hundreds of firefighters worked to extinguish a massive fire that broke out at a warehouse near Miami Gardens in northwest Miami-Dade on Thursday, but officials fear that the blaze could smolder for days despite their valiant efforts to put it out.—
Steven Yablonski,
CBS News,
6 Mar. 2026
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There was a strong suspicion that the deployment of Meredith and his two valiant soldiers was more of a low-cost publicity stunt than a serious attempt to cull the emu population.—
Tom Hawking,
Popular Science,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Other shows on this list were more consistent, but none were as courageous.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
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For its personal and courageous cinematic approach that confronts the ongoing negotiation between truth and lies, life and death.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Be brave; ask for fair, shared effort.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Emma experimented with mark-making, texture, movement, and abstraction in ways that felt both brave and sincere.—
Heide Janssen,
Oc Register,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The Best Actor category, in particular, has honored a wide variety of performance types, from bone-chilling turns like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) to heroic tributes to human decency like Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).—
Devan Coggan,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Mar. 2026
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But Reaves turned his second free throw into dramatics, a heroic shot and an overtime win.—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
More significant and symbolic than an ultimately gallant failure in Mumbai was the moment Harry Brook effectively dropped the World Cup with the last mistake of what has been the most turbulent period of his meteoric rise to become one of the best batters in the world.—
Paul Newman,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
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Tilt and the gallant escort was replaced by a boy too traumatized to leave his mother’s side.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Frontier is a nonprofit newsroom that produces fearless journalism with impact in Oklahoma.—
Brianna Bailey,
The Frontier,
14 Mar. 2026
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Our fearless hunting party hears another gunshot, and all eyes land on Captain Cunningham standing over a bear carcass.—
Lincee Ray,
Entertainment Weekly,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Manful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manful. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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