Learn English – Person who never makes excuses

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How do you express a person who never makes excuses under any difficult situations?

Example:

When he faced difficult situations, he never backed off or never complained. He was such a _____ person./ He was a ____.

Best Answer

Idiomatically, a common term for this type of behavior is stand-up. Here is the entry for that adjective (in its relevant sense) in Barbara Kipfer & Robert Chapman, Dictionary of American Slang, fourth edition (2007):

stand-up adj Courageous and personally accountable; bold; GUTSY Most often used in the expression stand-up guy : He handled the humiliating defeat like a stand-up guy/ And he's very, very stand-up (1841+) ... {adjective sense perhaps fr stand up and be counted ["To announce and be accountable for one's convictions, opinions, etc.; not be afraid to speak up"]}

In the example sentences you give, the fill-in-the-blank terms would be as follows:

When he faced difficult situations, he never backed off or never complained. He was such a stand-up person./ He was a stand-up guy.