gumption
pronunciation
How to pronounce gumption in British English:
UK [ˈgʌmpʃn]
How to pronounce gumption in American English:
US [ˈɡʌmpʃən]
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- Noun:
- sound practical judgment
- fortitude and determination
Word Origin
- gumption (n.)
- 1719, originally Scottish, "common sense, shrewdness, acuteness of practical understanding," also "drive, initiative," possibly connected with Middle English gome "attention, heed," from Old Norse gaumr "heed, attention." Sense of "initiative" is first recorded 1812. Related: Gumptious (adj.), attested from 1823.
Example
- 1. I could see how a girl with gumption like srey neth , unschooled and na ve , could yearn to get away .
- 2. Either you go for stability , which means getting someone low on gumption who is therefore happy to be in a backwater ; or you go for brighter people like the guy you are losing , in the knowledge that you won 't keep them long .
- 3. Suddenly , for those with the guts and the gumption , the canaries were no longer as far away or as difficult to find .
- 4. Just as america and britain now have to grapple with better ways to regulate financial services , so germany also faces hard questions , about the lopsided shape of its economy , the need for further painful change , and whether its political parties have the gumption to embrace reform .
- 5. Since she has indicated that she doesn 't believe despite her family 's evidence in a gene-based explanation of her longevity I ask if " just moving on " is part of the secret everyone assumes superagers must have . Can gumption trump decay even at 109 ?