- Today's Word
Gumption
[GUMP-shun]
Definition
- (noun) A spirited initiative, resourcefulness, courage, and common sense. It describes a person’s ability to get things done with energy and determination, often in the face of difficulties or challenges.
Example
Despite facing numerous setbacks, the young entrepreneur showed real gumption by persevering and eventually turning her small start-up into a successful business.
Fun Fact
The word “gumption” is believed to have originated in Scotland in the early 1700s. Its exact etymology is uncertain, but some linguists suggest it might be related to the Middle English word “gome,” meaning “attention” or “heed.” The term gained popularity in American English during the 19th century, where it came to embody the spirit of self-reliance and initiative often associated with frontier life.
(adjective) Lacking substance, interest, or mature thought; naive and simplistic in a way that reveals inexperience.
The critic dismissed the debut novel as jejune — competently written, technically adequate, and utterly devoid of anything worth remembering.
Jejune derives from the Latin jejunus, meaning “fasting” or “empty” — literally describing a stomach that has not been fed. The same root gives us jejunum, the section of the small intestine named for its tendency to be found empty after death. It entered English in the 17th century carrying its literal sense of emptiness before acquiring its figurative meaning of something intellectually or creatively hollow — content that has the form of nourishment without any of the substance.