Meaning & use
trouper
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableapproving
A person who works hard, stays cheerful, and keeps going despite difficulties, especially in a group effort.
Grammar: Countable; often used after be or as in she's a real trouper.
Patterns
- a real trouper
- be a trouper
- act like a trouper
Even with a fever, Maya came to rehearsal because she is a real trouper.
Thanks for covering my shift; you're a trouper.
The team were troupers, smiling through delays and bad weather.
Word forms
| plural | troupers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a real trouper
- He loaded the van at dawn like a real trouper.
- be a trouper
- If the bus is late, just be a trouper and wait calmly.
- work like a trouper
- She worked like a trouper until every chair was stacked.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trooper
- Do not use trooper for this sense; it means a soldier or state police officer, though many people say it by mistake.
- stalwart
- Stalwart is more formal and emphasizes loyal reliability, while trouper emphasizes cheerful endurance.
- team player
- Team player stresses cooperation; trouper stresses not complaining under pressure.
Opposites
Word family
- troupe noun
- A group of performers, from which the approving sense developed.
Commonly confused: trouper or trooper?
trouper vs trooper
Trooper means a soldier or police officer; trouper means a dependable, cheerful person.
Practice
Which sentence uses trouper in its correct approving sense?
Choose one answer.
Only the first sentence praises someone for enduring difficulty cheerfully. Trooper in the second means police officer, and the others misuse the word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trouper”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.