scathe

American  

[skeyth] / skeɪð /

verb (used with object)

scathed, scathing

1. to attack with severe criticism.

2. to hurt, harm, or injure, as by scorching.

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noun

1. hurt, harm, or injury.

scathe British  

/ skeɪð /

verb

1. rare to attack with severe criticism

2. archaic to injure

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noun

1. archaic harm

Other Word Forms

• scatheless
  adjective
• scathelessly
  adverb

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scathe scathed scathing

I suggest an ibid of historians, a ponder of scientists, a scathe of bureaucrats.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Ah, blessed are the people who Shall Ráma and his Sítá view, And Lakshmaṇ of the mighty arm, Returning free from scathe and harm.”

From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin) Griffith

Nor scathe had he, nor harm, nor dread: But the same couch beneath, Lay a gaunt wolf all torn and dead, Tremendous still in death.

From Anecdotes of Dogs by Edward Jesse

Like a scathe that admitted no gainsaying, it came from nowhere, struck, without warning, and was gone again unpunished.

From The Tempering by Charles Neville Buck

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 Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin) Griffith

Trilith Studios, one of the largest production facilities in North America, has been scathed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

"In the race to the bottom, France and Germany are leading the way in the September PMIs. Meanwhile, Spain and Italy are pulling through somewhat less scathed."

From Reuters ● Oct. 2, 2023

Exiting from the pandemic, the assumption might be that Noel’s students should be among the least scathed.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2023

"I guess you’d have to have an actress who was older, playing younger. I’m not quite sure what the rules are now. But I also wasn’t personally scathed by it."

From Fox News ● Nov. 22, 2021

I was in my own room as usual—just myself, without obvious change: nothing had smitten me, or scathed me, or maimed me.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

If you relish reading a critic pan a bad movie, then you’ll love Laura Miller’s scathing review of The Whisper Man, a ridiculous new thriller starring Robert De Niro and Michael Keaton.

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026

The video, set to pulsing music, delivering a scathing critique of the system that he once tried to reform.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Emily Wilson, the academic whose 2017 translation of Homer's Odyssey was cited by the director as an influence on his adaptation of the poem, has written a scathing review of the movie.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

But when the court was closely split in major cases, Kennedy was likely to be in majority while Scalia wrote scathing and increasingly personal dissents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

This was a scathing criticism for a man who had just traveled three thousand miles to attend an abolitionist convention.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling