scathe
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to attack with severe criticism.
-
to hurt, harm, or injure, as by scorching.
noun
verb
-
rare to attack with severe criticism
-
archaic to injure
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scathe
before 1000; (noun) Middle English scath ( e ), scade, schath ( e ) < Old Norse skathi damage, harm, cognate with Old English sc ( e ) atha malefactor, injury (with which the Middle English forms with sch- might be identified); (v.) Middle English scath ( e ), skath ( e ) < Old Norse skatha, cognate with Old English sceathian
Explanation
To scathe is to obliterate something as if you'd burned it to ashes — or to direct ferocious, fiery disapproval or anger in the direction of a person. The verb scathe is pretty old-fashioned; these days you're more likely to encounter the adjectives scathing and unscathed. The word derives from a root meaning "to harm or injure," and it was once used in both a literal and figurative way. Long ago, you might have scathed your old love letters by burning them in the fireplace, and then scathed your sister by telling her to get lost when she asked what you were doing.
Vocabulary lists containing scathe
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 1
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Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 1
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Selection Vocabulary 3, Unit 2
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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.
I suggest an ibid of historians, a ponder of scientists, a scathe of bureaucrats.
From Time Magazine Archive
On my bright bronde; Shalt thou never awayte me scathe By water ne by lande.
From Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - Fourth Series by Sidgwick, Frank
"But when the master of the house came and saw our clerk, and heard how it had all happened, he said,— "'Harm watches while men sleep; but man's scathe is the worst scathe.
From Tales from the Fjeld A Second Series of Popular Tales by Asbj?rnsen, P. Chr.
A groom rode the racehorse, who took no scathe from his thundering gallop of the day before.
From The Story of John G. Paton Or Thirty Years Among South Sea Cannibals by Paton, James
He cast me out with scathe and scorn, And from my side my wife was torn.
From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Griffith, Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin)
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.
