a challenge or provocation posed to someone to test their boldness or courage.
I accepted the dare.
an action proposed to someone as a challenge or test of boldness or courage: She knew it was going to be a humiliating dare.
Will he be able to complete the dare?
She knew it was going to be a humiliating dare.
(tr) to challenge (a person to do something) as proof of courage
(can take an infinitive with or without to) to be courageous enough to try (to do something)
she dares to dress differently from the others
you wouldn't dare!
rare (tr) to oppose without fear; defy
(it is) quite possible (that)
probably: used as sentence substitute
a challenge to do something as proof of courage
something done in response to such a challenge
What does dare mean? While the word dare is used widely and variously for bold behavior, a dare popularly refers to a silly or risky challenge a person is compelled to do as part of children's games. What are some other forms of dare?double dareWhat are some other words related to dare?
Dare, venture imply involvement in risks and dangers. Dare emphasizes the state of mind that makes one willing to meet danger: He dared to do what he knew was right. Venture emphasizes the act of doing something that involves risk: He ventured into deep water.
First recorded before 900; Middle English dar (verb), Old English dear(r), 1st and 3rd person singular present indicative of durran; akin to Old High German gitarran
When you challenge or provoke someone to try something risky, it's a dare. If you accept a dare, you're probably trying to prove how brave you are. When you challenge your friend to a dare, you dare him. You might, for example, dare your brother to jump off the garage into a pile of leaves. Another way to dare is to actually be brave: "I admire her so much, because she dares to stand up to bullies." The Old English root of dare is durran, "to brave danger, venture, or presume." If you say, "How dare you?" you're expressing outrage or indignation.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They’re dead-set on excising any shagginess that doesn’t fit their hidebound worldview, attacking textbooks and museums that dare to push beyond a straightforward explanation.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
"Ever since the fighting started in the Middle East, my profits have fallen, but I don't dare raise prices for my customers," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
"We need to look after those guys out there. Here we are in the middle of the summer, and they are like cats on a hot tin roof, dare I say it."
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Typically, those sanctions aim to cut off targets from the U.S. financial system, turning them into economic pariahs and threatening companies that dare to trade with them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
A well-bred young woman would not dare to take the arm of a young man in public until they were engaged!
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
A woman named Mary Dare instructed her mother to go in person to the Union general and plead on her behalf.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Twenty minutes later, they are on stage rehearsing The Happy Dictator; followed by Shaun Ryder, hamming up his part on the 2005 classic Dare!
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Mr. O’Hanlon is the program’s director of research and author of “To Dare Mighty Things: U.S. Defense Strategy Since the Revolution.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
They decided to put on the workshops, working alongside local hairdressers Helen Gibson and Lucy Carvalho from the Dare to Dream salon, which offers afro hair care.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026
She wondered if her message would get to Rachel Dare.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
The singer riffs on some of his biggest hits, including the Gorillaz' single DARE, telling commuters: "It's coming up, it's coming up, it's... Anchorage!"
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2017
“Although language change is inevitable, it’s too bad to see some of our most colourful expressions going out of use,” said Joan Hall, former editor of DARE.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 5, 2016
The class is no longer called DARE, but the concepts are the same.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 2, 2015
DARE, as it’s familiarly known, contains records of words that no other dictionary in the world does, gathered over the course of decades by field workers going door-to-door in the United States.
From Time ● Apr. 6, 2015
"How could he DARE?" cried Lady Drew, becoming very awful.
From Tono Bungay by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
So, Emily dares to eat a Big Arch—the whole thing—and the hosts talk about how this kind of PR cannot be bought.
From Slate ● Mar. 7, 2026
A potential Grand Slam decider in Paris awaits, with Borthwick openly saying he dares his side to dream of glory.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
But when she dares to dream, she pictures a Venezuela with free elections, functioning schools, hospitals and a vibrant cultural scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2026
“I’m not sure that that’s necessarily something that we want to continue to do in the future,” Miller said, since it essentially dares Putin “to think bigger.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
And their friend dares them to go into the well, and they do.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
I had never made a bolero song and I dared to do that this time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Authorities later covered the foundation of the 2019 statue with a plastic sheet, the resident said, adding: "No one has dared to complain."
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
There’s been something of a love-hate relationship between viewers and the show, which has sometimes dared its audience to keep watching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
"It's a story of someone who dared to dream, and I want people to take this example and motivate themselves to be very ambitious and to go for whatever their heart desires."
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Once again we were dumb with disbelief, but even when we found our voices we dared not question the master.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Then the boat turned towards me, and stayed its pace, and floated slowly by within my hand’s reach, yet I durst not handle it.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
He durst not strike a light to look at his watch, but surely there had been time to go and come and go again.
From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert
But the door leading to her husband's room was locked, and she durst not call him, but with an indescribable sinking of heart awaited the endlessly distant dawn.
From The Slaves of the Padishah by J?kai, M?r
Those around him listened to his words with astonishment, and not one of them durst say: "Dismount from your horse, you cannot see ten yards in front of you!"
From The Slaves of the Padishah by J?kai, M?r
I cannot, I durst not, belie my own soul, and commit so great a sin.
From Delusion, or The Witch of New England by Lee, Eliza Buckminster
Hermetically sealed tableaux of haughty models daring you to look away from their perfection.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The fusion of financial success and creative daring also defined the parallel world of independent cinema in the 1990s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
In 1985, the show held at the very same art museum caused a scandal for daring to bring fashion into the erudite ranks of a museum.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Ojomu said guests may choose "more daring looks than the average wedding guest", but would definitely know not to steal attention from the bride.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Burr embodied Hamilton’s daring and energy run amok in a political culture still groping for its stable shape.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
