Dictionary

mettlesome en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɛtəlsəm/

Etymology

From mettle + -some.

Meanings

1. Marked by mettle or bravery; courageous.
   • The instant Haley touched the saddle, the mettlesome creature bounded from the earth with a sudden spring, that threw his master sprawling, some feet off, on the soft, dry turf. 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 6, in Uncle Tom's Cabin:
   • Among them was the "West Country" driver, Swain, of Bude, over the Great Central, who reminded me irresistibly of a hunter putting a particularly mettlesome steed at the fences. 1948 September and October, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 334:

Forms

Deriveds

mettlesomely · mettlesomeness

Relateds

Not to be confused with meddlesome

Translations (10)

bg смел (of great mettle) · bg храбър (of great mettle) · pt brioso (of great mettle) · ga faghartha (of great mettle) · fi lujahermoinen (of great mettle) · de mutig (of great mettle) · fr preux (of great mettle) · es brioso (of great mettle) · fi rautainen (of great mettle) · es animoso (of great mettle)