Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness.
- noun Guts; spunk.
- noun Common sense.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Acuteness of the practical understanding; clear, practical common sense; quick perception of the right thing to do under unusual circumstances.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun colloq. Capacity; shrewdness; common sense.
- noun The art of preparing colors.
- noun Megilp.
- noun initiative; resourcefulness.
- noun Courage; guts.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Energy of mind and body, enthusiasm.
- noun Boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness,
guts ;spunk ;initiative .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun sound practical judgment
- noun fortitude and determination
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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But they hadn't what we call gumption, they put all their capital into one line of business, and you may be sure they swamped the market.
A Voyage of Consolation (being in the nature of a sequel to the experiences of 'An American girl in London') Sara Jeannette Duncan
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And gumption is always welcome (whereas the timorousness of anonymity will be quashed -- c.f. the A-Z of the blog I can't be bothered linking to at the moment).
Thoughts on Narnia Hal Duncan 2009
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It's been a long time since I've seen a vice presidential nominee with so muchwhat's the word gumption!
VEEP's... Gumbo Lily 2008
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I've been quiet for a while, going through a number of struggles that have left me without the - in the vernacular of my childhood, the 'gumption' - to keep writing frequently.
pfblogs.org: The Ad-Free Personal Finance Blogs Aggregator Pocketmint 2008
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I've been quiet for a while, going through a number of struggles that have left me without the - in the vernacular of my childhood, the 'gumption' - to keep writing frequently.
pfblogs.org: The Ad-Free Personal Finance Blogs Aggregator 2008
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It just takes some gumption, which is evident in some agencies, if not in others.
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It just takes some gumption, which is evident in some agencies, if not in others.
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They talk about gumption and there is even a song called gumption from that movie!
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While he talks a good game about the businesses he's "built or turned around," his entrepreneurial gumption, which is real, has failed to produce an equal degree of entrepreneurial success.
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It's hard-wired to operate with typical Beltway gumption, which is why it's failing miserably.
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A gumption trap is something which saps your energy, undermines your faith or otherwise causes you to falter in your drive towards completing a project.
The Truth About Gumption Traps Devin Martin 2021
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In his 1974 novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig coined the term gumption trap.
The Truth About Gumption Traps Devin Martin 2021
brtom commented on the word gumption
Wonder how he had the gumption to propose to any girl.
Joyce, Ulysses, 6
January 1, 2007