doughty
adjective
steadfastly courageous and resolute; valiant.
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doughty
1 American
[dou-tee]
/ ˈdaʊ ti /
adjective
doughtier,
doughtiest
Doughty
2
American
[dou-tee]
/ ˈdaʊ ti /
noun
Doughty
1
British
/ ˈdaʊtɪ /
noun
doughty
2
British
/ ˈdaʊtɪ /
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of doughty
before 1000; Middle English; Old English dohtig worthy, equivalent to *doht worth (cognate with Old High German toht; see dow, -th 1) + -ig -y 1; replacing Old English dyhtig, cognate with German tüchtig
Explanation
Someone who's doughty is brave and determined, like a doughty knight who fearlessly rides off to slay a terrifying giant. At first glance, you might confuse doughty with doughy, but the two words are quite different in meaning. Doughy things are soft and squishy, like unbaked bread. A doughty person is valiant and steadfast — like a doughty explorer who braves wild jungles and piranha-infested rivers in order to find the ruins of an ancient city. The word is derived from a root that means "strong."
Vocabulary lists containing doughty
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.
See Examples For:
Young readers will cheer for the doughty girl, who braves the razored depths to haul the baby dragon to safety in this satisfying, sumptuously illustrated fable translated from the French by Alyson Waters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
His doughty performance, punctuated by that final dash to victory, spoke the loudest.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 29, 2023
It is that doughty and camp venue that POP sometimes uses for endearingly low-budget and often farcical opera productions, but with high musical standards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2023
Right now, doughty retail investors are looking like the most likely source of relief, as institutional players get cold feet in the midst of a macro maelstrom.
From Reuters ● Aug. 30, 2022
Though slow to quarrel, and for sport killing nothing that lived, they were doughty at bay, and at need could still handle arms.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Doughty said "no holiday, payment or opportunity is worth risking your freedom, your future or your life".
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The pair's friendship began in 1996 when they were both barristers at Doughty Street Chambers, specialising in human rights.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Miles Doughty, vocalist for Slightly Stoopid, said the band is excited to return after first playing the festival in 2019.“BeachLife has really grown since we first played,” Doughty said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
Doughty said the Kings need to wear down the Avalanche, something they clearly couldn’t do in the two games played in Denver’s mile-high altitude.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
Pekka Rollins tucked a wad of jurda into his cheek and leaned back in his chair to survey the raggedy crew Doughty had brought to his office.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
But then that doughtier, more familiar English trait—worldly scepticism—must and will reassert itself.
From Economist ● Jun. 24, 2016
Rugby union has known few doughtier competitors than the All Black captain and, should he become the first person to guide his side to two consecutive World Cup triumphs, it will merely underline that fact.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 29, 2015
The 24-year-old was outstanding in dry, firm conditions against Scotland at the start of the Six Nations but England preferred the doughtier Brad Barritt at inside centre in the latter half of the campaign.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 29, 2013
But I'm afraid the task would take a doughtier woodswoman than me.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 19, 2012
He had ceased to rehearse the speech a doughtier Baird would now have been hearing.
From Merton of the Movies by Harry Leon Wilson
“Turn Around Time” offers no pat answers, and occasionally wanders into thickets of philosophical conjecture and opaque references that may stymie all but the doughtiest of readers.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 11, 2019
Only Munster, who face Biarritz today, now stand in the way of an all-French finale in Paris but even the doughtiest Celtic warrior can sense trouble brewing.
From The Guardian ● May 1, 2010
His doughtiest daughter was Hetep-Heres II, a biological curiosity.
From Time Magazine Archive
Even the doughtiest presidential aides conceded that the blows from Republican leaders and conservative newspapers had been staggering for the President.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not the doughtiest soldier of old Gondor, nor the most savage Orc entrapped, had ever thus endured her, or set blade to her beloved flesh.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
