gumption

Meaning

1. (Ireland, UK, uncountable, usually) Common sense, initiative, resourcefulness.
2. (US, uncountable, usually) Boldness of enterprise; aggressiveness or initiative.
3. (US, uncountable, usually) Energy of body and mind, enthusiasm.

Synonyms

common sense

horse sense

good sense

grit

sand

guts

sense

courage

backbone

moxie

mother wit

nous

enterprise

prudence

resolve

sageness

savvy

shrewdness

wisdom

kishke

savvey

ambition

gumph

aspiration

astuteness

balls

boldness

brain

🧠

caution

commonsense

derm

discretion

initiation

initiative

mind

Translations

iniciativa

iniciativa

tripes

bom senso

girişkenlik

beceriklilik

coraje

entranhas

Mumm

vísceras

sentit comú

μυαλό

σύνεση

καπατσοσύνη

Traute

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɡʌmpʃən/

Etymology

Cognate with Middle English: gome

Cognate with Old Norse: gaumr

In summary

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”).