Did you know?
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
Matthew Continetti, National Review, 18 Jan. 2025
But in the Great Lakes, very few fish are large enough to escape unscathed from a sea lamprey encounter.
—Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 17 Jan. 2025
Yet Blake doesn’t leave unscathed, as he’s scratched by a beast that looks suspiciously lycanthropic.
—William Earl, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025
Still, muni bond issuers have historically walked away unscathed from natural disasters, in the long run, Wells Fargo analysts led by Lucas Baker wrote in a wrote earlier this week.
—Michelle Fox, CNBC, 16 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for unscathed 
Dictionary Entries Near unscathed
Cite this Entry
“Unscathed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unscathed. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unscathed
adjective
Share