Brave, too, has an alternate meaning of “excellent,” and as a noun used to refer to an American Indian warrior.ĩ.

Bravery: This word, like courage itself, is an all-purpose term, though it also can mean “finery” or “ostentatious display,” perhaps from the idea of a triumphant hero’s trappings. Bottle: This British English slang term derives from the word for a container for liquid whether it alludes to the receptacle’s sturdiness or to the false courage inspired by imbibing alcohol from it is unclear.Ĩ. Boldness: This word means “daring, fearless” but can also mean “adventurous” as well as “presumptuous.”ħ. Balls: This vulgar slang for testicles suggests that a person said, in a figurative sense, to possess them is endowed with an anatomical feature equated with virility and thus with courage.Ħ. Backbone: This word, one of several on this list that figuratively refer to body parts, implies that a courageous person is unyielding or indestructible.ĥ. Audacity: This term’s meaning as a synonym for courage is tainted by another sense, that of shamelessness.Ĥ. Adventuresomeness: Like many words on this list, this one is encumbered by the suffix -ness, but it and its nearly identical-looking and somewhat less clumsy synonym adventurousness convey a connotation of a flair for undertaking risky or dangerous enterprises.ģ.

Here’s a roster of the valiant vocabulary:ġ-2. Some terms refer to determination more than bravery, but the two qualities are intertwined. Courage comes in many varieties, often identified by distinct synonyms.

Synonyms for brave