daunting
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Something daunting can scare you off. If you have a lot of studying to do, it may seem like a daunting task. Good news is you can get through it by working hard. Or weasel out of it by playing sick. Often used in the phrases “daunting prospect” and “daunting task,” daunting describes something that you are not looking forward to doing. Having to fill out complicated tax forms every year is a daunting task for many people. Once a daunting task is complete, you no longer describe it as daunting, but instead can call it a job well done, or at least another life experience survived.
Vocabulary lists containing daunting
The Alchemist
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 1
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Michelle Obama's final address as First Lady (2017)
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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.
Yet he is now preparing to do something most actors would find daunting even with perfect recall: performing a much-loved Samuel Beckett play alone on a London stage.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
But the sheer volume will be daunting, Content warned.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
All this should help him make a success of his daunting role flying close to the sun.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
The most daunting challenge was intuiting what Bessette would have worn in the years before she met Kennedy and became one of the most photographed women in the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Securing a revolution has proven to be a much more daunting assignment than winning one.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
