The adjective mettlesome is a great way to describe someone who's full of pride or courage — although it's also an old-fashioned, somewhat literary way to do it. Many classic children's books feature mettlesome main characters, like Huckleberry Finn and Ann of Green Gables. Though it sounds a bit like the nosy word meddlesome, mettlesome is rooted instead in mettle, "the stuff of which someone is made."