Doughty

adjective

Showing notable strength, tenacity, and daringness, especially without regard for one's own safety. Fearless or unshakeable.

Usage

Someone who is doughty is a force to be reckoned with! Doughty is used to describe people who are fearless and intrepid, unafraid to face a challenge or venture into unexplored, potentially dangerous territory. A person designated as such is considered to have the courage to stand up for what they believe in and the strength to overcome obstacles. This sense of bravery is key to understanding doughty – the word implies a disregard for the possibility of personal harm, occasionally to the point of foolishness or insanity. Regardless, the word has an unmistakably positive connotation, and those described by it are considered remarkable for their boldness and strength of character. Someone who is doughty is someone who can be depended upon – and definitely a person you want on your side!

Example: The doughty soldier charged into the fray, vowing not to leave until he'd found his fallen comrade.

Example: Jon shrieked when the doughty squirrel leapt straight at the hotdog he was holding.

Example: Doughty entrepreneurs have been vital to the strength of the American economy.

Derivative Words

Doughtiness is a noun which describes the fearlessness, strength, and tenacity of someone who is doughty. Similarly, doughtily is an adverb which is used to characterize a verb as being resultant of or related to courage or boldness.

Example: The Sons of Liberty showed considerable doughtiness when they staged the Boston Tea Party, as by doing so they risked incurring the wrath of the British government.

Example: On Christmas night in 1776, General Washington and his troops doughtily crossed the Delaware River to face the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey.

Origin

Doughty's oldest ancestor is thought to be the Proto-Germanic term duhitz-, which described something as being able or useful. The word eventually evolved into the Old English phrase dohtig, which meant "virtuous" or "courageous," and by the twelfth century it had entered our language in its more familiar form.

In Literature

From Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote:

A doughty gentleman lies here;

A stranger all his life to fear;

Nor in his death could Death prevail,

In that last hour, to make him quail.

The above passage is the first half of Don Quixote's epitaph. Doughty is used to describe the titular hero's bravery and steadfastness in the face of challenge (quixotic or not).

Mnemonic

Doughty fights without a doubt.
Someone who's doughty is not afraid of a bout, see?