gumption
Plural: gumptions
Noun
- Initiative, shrewdness, and common sense; resourcefulness.
- sound practical judgment
- fortitude and determination
- Common sense, initiative, resourcefulness.
- Boldness of enterprise; aggressiveness or initiative.
- Energy of body and mind, enthusiasm.
Examples
- It takes gumption to challenge a long word, especially when points are tight in Words With Friends.
Origin / Etymology
Borrowed from Scots gumption (“common sense, shrewdness; drive, initiative”); further etymology unknown, possibly connected with Middle English gome (“attention, heed”), from Old Norse gaumr (“attention, heed”), from Proto-Germanic *gaumō. English cognates include gaum (“to comprehend, understand”) and goam (“to recognize, see”).
Synonyms
backbone, common sense, good sense, grit, guts, horse sense, mother wit, moxie, sand, sense, chutzpah, gumph, spunk
Scrabble Score: 13
gumption: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordgumption: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
gumption: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary