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Can you be scathed instead of unscathed?
We often hear of a person coming through some difficult circumstance, or dangerous endeavor, and “emerging unscathed,” yet we rarely hear of anyone “emerging scathed.” Why is this? Scathe is a word: it may function as a noun (“harm, injury”) or as a verb (“to do harm to,” “to assail with withering denunciation”). It is not as commonly found as it once was, and now primarily serves as the basis for the adjective scathing (“bitterly severe”) or for the latter portion of unscathed. So you can say that someone “emerged scathed” if you wish, but be advised that it will have a curiously archaic sound to it.
Examples of unscathed in a Sentence
Pilar Arias , Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2025
While many companies have reined in financial expectations for the year, others — especially major tech firms — have so far sailed through relatively unscathed.
—Rob Wile, NBC news, 2 May 2025
Indian strikes did not kill anybody in Pakistan, and the Indian pilot shot down over Pakistani territory lived to share a cup of tea with Pakistani soldiers before being delivered back to India unscathed.
—Sushant Singh, Foreign Affairs, 29 Apr. 2025
In the pre-match press conference before facing Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, Postecoglou was asked whether getting through unscathed had been the priority.
—Elias Burke, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unscathed
Cite this Entry
“Unscathed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unscathed. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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unscathed
adjective
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