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Derring-do is a quirky holdover from Middle English that came to occupy its present place in the language by a series of mistakes and misunderstandings. In Middle English, dorring don meant simply "daring to do." The phrase was misprinted as derrynge do in a 15th-century work by poet John Lydgate, and Edmund Spenser took it up from there. (A glossary to Spenser's work defined it as "manhood and chevalrie.") Literary author Sir Walter Scott and others brought the noun into modern use.
Examples of derring-do in a Sentence
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The journalist turned novelist, who saw his share of derring-do as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, was one of the most influential authors of his genre.
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Chris Koseluk, HollywoodReporter, 9 June 2025
There’s no question Linklater identifies with Godard and is, like any filmmaker of his caliber and contemporary, one continually inspired by the French director’s iconoclasm and stylistic derring-do.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 May 2025
There is plenty of derring-do here too, as Cassian races to beat ISB to that familiar apartment Luthen kept as a safe house.
—Noel Murray, New York Times, 14 May 2025
This wondrous feat of real-life derring-do, intercut with multiple other standoffs, transfixes us because a lot of it involves things going spectacularly wrong — again, very much in the Mission: Impossible tradition.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 May 2025
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Chris Koseluk, HollywoodReporter, 9 June 2025
There’s no question Linklater identifies with Godard and is, like any filmmaker of his caliber and contemporary, one continually inspired by the French director’s iconoclasm and stylistic derring-do.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 May 2025
There is plenty of derring-do here too, as Cassian races to beat ISB to that familiar apartment Luthen kept as a safe house.
—Noel Murray, New York Times, 14 May 2025
This wondrous feat of real-life derring-do, intercut with multiple other standoffs, transfixes us because a lot of it involves things going spectacularly wrong — again, very much in the Mission: Impossible tradition.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for derring-do
Cite this Entry
“Derring-do.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/derring-do. Accessed 25 Jun. 2025.
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