Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
gumption - 4 dictionary results

gump⋅tion

[guhmp-shuhn]
–noun Informal.
1. initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness: With his gumption he'll make a success of himself.
2. courage; spunk; guts: It takes gumption to quit a high-paying job.
3. common sense; shrewdness.

Origin:
1710–20; orig. Scots


gump⋅tion⋅less, adjective
gumptious, adjective
gump·tion   (gŭmp'shən)   
n.   Informal
  1. Boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness.
  2. Guts; spunk.
  3. Common sense.

[Scots.]

Gumption

Gump"tion\, n. [OE. gom, gome, attention; akin to AS. ge['o]mian, gyman, to regard, observe, gyme care, OS. gomean to heed, Goth. gaumjan to see, notice.]

1. Capacity; shrewdness; common sense. [Colloq.]

One does not have gumption till one has been properly cheated. --Lord Lytton.

2. (Paint.) (a) The art of preparing colors. --Sir W. Scott. (b) Megilp. --Fairholt.

gumption 
1719, Scottish, "common sense, shrewdness," also "drive, initiative," possibly connected with M.E. gome "attention, heed," from O.N. gaumr "heed." Originally "common sense, shrewdness," sense of "initiative" is first recorded 1812.
Search another word or see gumption on Thesaurus | Reference