doughty

Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff, 1979, page 303

“In his everyday life doughty little Gus lived the life of the right stuff.”

doughty |ˈdoutē|adjective ( -tier , -tiest ) archaic, humorousbrave and persistent : his doughty spirit kept him going.ORIGIN late Old English dohtig, variant of dyhtig, of Germanic origin; related to Dutchduchtig and German tüchtig.