Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Of strong mettle, having
unbreakable spirit, strong of mind and spirit. 2. Brave,
courageous. Notes: I know what you are thinking: this word
should mean "nosey, interfering." No, whatever you do, do not
confuse this word with meddlesome (or nettlesome "irritating"
for that matter). Today's Good Word has to do with our mettle,
the stuff our character is made of. It is the adjective of the
noun mettle—not to be confused with metal, even though it is
little more than a variant spelling of that word (see Word
History). Of course, we must also dodge medal and meddle when
using this word. (Whew! Is speaking English worth it?) In Play:
Keeping all these words separate poses quite a problem even for
native speakers: "Riley received a medal for showing his mettle
on the battlefield." He probably spent his time dodging metal
shrapnel rather than meddling in other people's business. Mettle
is required at all levels of human endeavor: "Now that
Farnsworth has two children, we will se