Synonyms

right stuff

American

noun

Informal.

Usually the right stuff the necessary or ideal qualities or capabilities, as courage, confidence, dependability, toughness, or daring.

Etymology

Origin of right stuff

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

You’re doing all the right stuff by yourself, and you’re among professionals, medical professionals, not Yahoos, and you can still have someone else make a mistake and your life is gone.

From Los Angeles Times

The films she had worked on included “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” “Henry & June,” “Amadeus,” “The Right Stuff,” “Backdraft” and “Blue Velvet.”

From The Wall Street Journal

In October, his portrayal of Chuck Yeager anchored the big-screen adaptation of “The Right Stuff,” for which he would receive an Oscar nomination, delivering him to a brand of stardom rarely, if ever, achieved by an American playwright.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The Right Stuff,” “Please Don’t Go Girl” — those songs!

From Los Angeles Times

"I thought I'd done all the right stuff and it still happened to me."

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023