daring
[dair-ing]
- adventurous courage; boldness.
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- bold or courageous; fearless or intrepid; adventurous.
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Origin of daring
Synonyms
See more synonyms for daring on Thesaurus.com1. audacity, bravery. 2. dauntless, undaunted, venturesome, audacious, brave.
Antonyms
1. caution.
dare
[dair]
- to have the necessary courage or boldness for something; be bold enough: You wouldn't dare!
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- to have the boldness to try; venture; hazard.
- to meet defiantly; face courageously.
- to challenge or provoke (a person) into a demonstration of courage; defy: to dare a man to fight.
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- to have the necessary courage or boldness to (used chiefly in questions and negatives): How dare you speak to me like that? He dare not mention the subject again.
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- an act of daring or defiance; challenge.
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- dare say, daresay.
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Origin of dare
before 900; Middle English dar (v.), Old English dear(r), 1st and 3rd person singular present indicative of durran; akin to Old High German gitarran
Synonyms
See more synonyms for dare on Thesaurus.com2. hazard, risk, brave.
Synonym study
1. 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for daring
Contemporary Examples
The Bees Laline Paull (Ecco) This arresting debut novel is a daring dystopian story set in a beehive.
Just like Watson, Ansari is daring to elicit antagonism and ignorant accusations on account of his feminist beliefs.
Not that Modern Family would ever make such a daring move at this point.
It is a tale of courage and commitment, daring and determination.
Beautiful, daring and smart, Sophie managed to elude arrest on many occasions.
Meet 'The Queen of Thieves' Marm Mandelbaum, New York City's First Mob BossJ. North Conway
September 7, 2014
Historical Examples
Now it was another and older man, daring, intelligent, unscrupulous.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
What daring boldness, what a strange revolt of a patient against his doctor!
The Imaginary InvalidMolire
Their thieves are the most daring and their agents the most cunning.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
At length the most daring of the "patriots" emitted a tentative hiss.
Camps, Quarters and Casual PlacesArchibald Forbes
But it is not altogether courage and daring that endear him to our hearts.
Howard Pyle's Book of PiratesHoward Pyle
daring
- bold or adventurous; reckless
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- courage in taking risks; boldness
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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!
- (tr) rare to oppose without fear; defy
- I dare say or I daresay
- (it is) quite possible (that)
- probably: used as sentence substitute
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- a challenge to do something as proof of courage
- something done in response to such a challenge
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Word Origin
Old English durran; related to Old High German turran to venture
usage
When used negatively or interrogatively, dare does not usually add -s: he dare not come; dare she come? When used negatively in the past tense, however, dare usually adds -d: he dared not come
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for daring
n.
late 14c., verbal noun from dare (v.).
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dare
n.
1590s, from dare (v.).
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dare
v.
from first and third person singular of Old English durran "to brave danger, dare; venture, presume," from Proto-Germanic *ders- (cf. Old Norse dearr, Old High German giturran, Gothic gadaursan), from PIE *dhers- "to dare, be courageous" (cf. Sanskrit dadharsha "to be bold;" Old Persian darš- "to dare;" Greek thrasys "bold;" Old Church Slavonic druzate "to be bold, dare;" Lithuanian dristi "to dare," drasus "courageous").
An Old English irregular preterite-present verb: darr, dearst, dear were first, second and third person singular present indicative; mostly regularized 16c., though past tense dorste survived as durst, but is now dying, persisting mainly in northern English dialect. Meaning "to challenge or defy (someone)" is first recorded 1570s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper