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
None of these doughty Irish mams, abroad for the first time in their lives, display the slightest curiosity about their surroundings, or indeed anything beyond the horizons of their own tangled histories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2023
He once recalled scoring nine goals in an 11-0 victory, an afternoon that somehow convinced his manager at the time that his future lay not as a prolific attacker, but as a doughty centre-half.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2023
His doughty performance, punctuated by that final dash to victory, spoke the loudest.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 29, 2023
And some said that when the Riders came from Rohan each would bring behind him a halfling warrior, small maybe, but doughty.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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
Doughty added that the band adjusts its set to match the diverse audience the festival attracts.
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
In a police interview, Doughty said he had become frustrated because the machine would not accept coins, adding that police were "more interested in ripping off a pensioner".
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 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 left only two sons, one in the prime of manhood and the other yet a youth, while both were Knights and Braves, albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman than the younger.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
“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
In his hard-hitting campaign to unseat Illinois' three-term Democratic Senator Paul Douglas, 74, comely, honey-haired Valerie Percy, 21, a June graduate of Cornell, proved one of Chuck Percy's doughtiest aides.
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.
