gumption Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun sound practical judgment
    mother wit; horse sense; good sense; sense; common sense.
    • Common sense is not so common
    • he hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples
    • fortunately she had the good sense to run away
  2. noun fortitude and determination
    backbone; grit; guts; sand; moxie.
    • he didn't have the guts to try it

WordNet

Gump"tion noun
Etymology
OE. gom, gome, attention; akin to AS. geómian, gyman, to regard, observe, gyme care, OS. gomean to heed, Goth. gaumjan to see, notice.
Definitions
  1. Capacity; shrewdness; common sense. Colloq. in MW10 marked as chiefly dial.
    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. 3. initiative = primary modern usage

Webster 1913