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daunting
/ ˈdɔːntɪŋ /
adjective
- causing fear or discouragement; intimidating
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Derived Forms
- ˈdauntingly, adverb
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Example Sentences
That means big-city mayors including Atlanta’s Keisha Lance Bottoms, New York’s Bill de Blasio and Chicago’s Lori Lightfoot face a daunting challenge.
Making a page from scratch affords more creative freedom than social-media and web-hosting sites that let you drag and drop elements onto your page, but it can be daunting and time-consuming.
Executives have moved quickly to support and empower employees while grappling with daunting challenges to the way their businesses operate.
Nonetheless, some media, marketing, fashion, beauty and retail players have continued to succeed in the face of daunting odds.
Even Compound, which is becoming DeFi’s best known platform, has a daunting user interface.
Cold War fears could be manipulated through misleading art to attract readers to daunting material.
The responsibilities of raising children often seem very daunting.
ROME, Italy — Long before Ebola was a household word and a global crisis, West Africa was a daunting place.
And it's that daunting task that is chronicled in Becoming Belle Knox.
Baquet and his evolving leadership team (he has yet to appoint a managing editor) face daunting challenges.
He turned quickly and made off into the woods, followed by a loud, daunting laugh which spurred his pace to a panicky gallop.
The sun was on the rocks and some shone like polished steel, but the gully was in shadow and Jimmy had felt the gloom daunting.
Somehow the quiet and gloom were daunting, but to hesitate was ridiculous and Jimmy went off with Bob.
Rose-pink light touched the high peaks and hoar frost sparkled on the pines, but the stern beauty of the wilds was daunting.
Perhaps it was strange, but of all the animals, civilized man alone was willing to front the cold on the daunting heights.
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More About Daunting
What does daunting mean?
If a task is daunting, it’s intimidating or overwhelming in a way that makes you not even want to try to do it.
Daunting is the progressive or continuous tense (the -ing form) of the verb daunt, meaning to intimidate or discourage. But daunting is commonly used as an adjective. It is almost always used to describe tasks, projects, or other things that need to be done.
Example: When I first started at this job, I was assigned the daunting task of reorganizing 10 years’ worth of files.
Where does daunting come from?
Daunting is the adjective form of the verb daunt. Daunt comes from the Old French danter, an alteration of donter, meaning “to conquer.” This word came from Latin domitāre, “to tame.” Daunt has been used in English since at least the 1300s, with daunting coming later.
When something is daunting, you dread doing it—it’s overwhelming and you don’t even know how to begin. Daunting is usually used to describe overwhelming tasks, like reading a 1,000-page book, or writing a 50-page paper, or having to read a 1,000-page book and then write a 50-page paper on it. Some things are daunting not because they would take a long time to do but simply because they’re intimidating, like the daunting prospect of having to speak in front of a room full of strangers. Sometimes, things are described as daunting even when they’re not all that important, like the daunting task of cleaning out the garage for the first time in 15 years, or the daunting commitment of streaming a 10-season TV show.
Some people try to make projects less daunting by breaking them down into smaller tasks, making a to-do list, and crossing things off one at a time. The best way to make an assignment seem less daunting and more doable? Starting it.
Did you know ... ?
What are some other forms related to daunting?
- daunt (verb)
- dauntingly (adverb)
What are some synonyms for daunting?
What are some words that share a root or word element with daunting?
What are some words that often get used in discussing daunting?
How is daunting used in real life?
Daunting is often used with words like task and prospect. It can refer to intimidating tasks that are serious or not-so-serious, as long as they’re overwhelming in some way.
Finding a book can be a somewhat daunting project. The Lush soap, however, is easily located. pic.twitter.com/XXqGraTSOz
— Modus dei 🥑 (@DavidFAHoinski) March 14, 2020
The hardest thing about working at MS so far is just making sense of a huge company. There are unique acronyms, phrases, and systems. Knowing where to find simple information or get access to the things you need can be daunting. But coworkers are quick to help and advize…
— Justin Johnson (@profexorgeek) March 11, 2020
idk who needs to see this, but that daunting task you’ve been putting off actually takes only 5 mins to complete. no need to procrastinate any further.
(yep, it’s me. i needed to see this. 🙂)
— Myles D. Moody (@mylesdmoody) March 9, 2020
Try using daunting!
Is daunting used correctly in the following sentence?
Going to a small gathering might seem like fun, but for someone with social anxiety it can be pretty daunting.
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