dashing
Americanadjective
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energetic and spirited; lively.
a dashing hero.
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elegant and gallant in appearance and manner.
a dashing young cavalry officer.
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showy; stylish.
adjective
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spirited; lively
a dashing young man
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stylish; showy
a dashing hat
Other Word Forms
- dashingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of dashing
Explanation
Someone who's dashing is stylish, with a certain bold, attractive spirit. Your dashing uncle might charm and impress your friends with his stories of travels around the world and his fashionable outfits. Characters in old books are frequently dashing — adventurous and gallant, like a dashing hero on a white horse or a dashing pirate seeking his fortune at sea. The adjective dashing is almost always used to describe men, and for that reason it's a bit old-fashioned. In the 18th and 19th centuries "to cut a dash" meant "to act brilliantly" or "to give a showy appearance," and dashing came from this meaning.
Vocabulary lists containing dashing
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
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Almost American Girl
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Actually, a lot of assets are dashing investors’ expectations regarding how they should behave during such a difficult period.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026
A lower court last year handed the veteran 57-year-old politician a five-year ban from public office over a fake jobs scam at the European Parliament, dashing her presidential ambitions.
From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026
Set in the 18th Century, Wuthering Heights is a story of desire, obsession and revenge, following the affair between the wild Catherine Earnshaw and the dashing Heathcliff.
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026
Outside the building, safety alerts sent people dashing for shelter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 14, 2025
Once the needle settled, she scratched away on her clipboard, while Fig hurtled off the scale, dashing back to the safety of his carrier.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
