Stalwart Meaning
/ˈstɔːl.wət/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjFirmly or solidly built.
adjCourageous.
Sentence Examples
He was a stalwart defender of the role of philosophy in education.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ guard protected the castle gate all night without any fear.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She has been a ____ supporter of the local library for many years, helping to raise money during events.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Scots stalwart under the influence of Walter Scott, displacing earlier stalworth, wherewith it forms a doublet. From Middle English stal-worth (“physically strong, hardy, robust; brave, courageous”), from Old English stǣlwierþe (“able to stand in good stead, serviceable”), probably from staþol (“establishment; foundation”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)) or stǣl (“place; condition, stead”) + -wierþe (“able to, capable of”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to rotate, turn”)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"This true Man ſoon aſſembled him beforn: / Three Sons he had that ſtalwart were and bold, / And twenty Men of Kin in his Houſhold."
— 1709, [Henry the Minstrel], “How Wallace Came into Scotland Again at the Battel of Elchok-Park”, in The Life and Acts of the Most Famous and Valiant Champion, Sir William Wallace, Knight of Ellerslie; Maintainer of the Liberty of Scotland. With a Preface Containing a Short Sum of the History of that Time, Edinburgh: Printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, →OCLC, book XII, page 304:
"[A] stalwart leather-clad "boy," just returned from trapping on the waters of Grand River, on the western side the mountains, who interlards his mountain jargon with Spanish words picked up in Taos and California."
— 1849, George Frederick Ruxton, chapter III, in Life in the Far West (Plains and Rockies; 175), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 71:
"For, observe, it was an assemblage of two hundred thousand young men—not simpering, dainty, kid-gloved weaklings, but stalwart, muscular, dauntless young braves, brimful of push and energy, and royally endowed with every attribute that goes to make up a peerless and magnificent manhood—the very pick and choice of the world's glorious ones."
— 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 415:
"The driver was a stalwart woman who sat at ease in the front seat and drove her car bare-headed. She left a cloud of dust and a trail of gasoline behind her."
— 1912 August, Willa Sibert Cather, “The Bohemian Girl”, in McClure’s Magazine, volume XXXIX, number 4, [New York, N.Y.]: McClure Publications, →OCLC, chapter I, page 422:
"Direct your attention now to the African turtles seen here migrating … Morbo wishes these stalwart nomads peace."
— 2002 November 10, Aaron Ehasz, “Crimes of the Hot”, in Futurama, season 5, episode 1, spoken by Morbo, via Fox Broadcasting Company:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ guard protected the castle gate all night without any fear.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She has been a ____ supporter of the local library for many years, helping to raise money during events.