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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
Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 5 July 2025
Chicago loaded the bases in the fourth, but Senzatela nearly escaped unscathed when Colson Montgomery lined out to Toglia for the second out.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 5 July 2025
This is not the first time Combs has emerged largely unscathed from a criminal trial where the weight of the law seemed stacked against him.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 2 July 2025
Though the backstage was destroyed and later renovated, the circle at the front of the Opry's stage escaped relatively unscathed.
—Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 2 July 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 19 Jul. 2025.
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unscathed
adjective
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