Doughtiness Definition & Meaning

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Doughty is a persevering English word. In Old English, it shows up as dohtig, which was probably an alteration of dyhtig that resulted from the influence of the Old English dohte, meaning "had worth." By the 13th century, the spelling doughty had begun to appear. The expected pronunciation would be \DAW-tee\, paralleling other similarly spelled old words like bought and sought. But over the centuries, the spelling was sometimes confused with that of the now-obsolete word doubty, meaning "full of doubt," and thus, so it is conjectured, we have the pronunciation we use today.

Examples of doughty in a Sentence

the doughty heroes of old

Recent Examples on the Web Despite the ministry’s nimble online work and doughty conventional fighting by Ukraine’s military, Russia's attacks have intensified, and some cities and towns have been captured by Russian forces. — Wired, 17 Mar. 2022 One foot still in the stirrups, the doughty Englishman was saved by a loose-fitting shoe from being dragged to death. — Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 1 Oct. 2021 Stymied by his dilemma, Bill turns to doughty flight attendant Jo. — Malcom Forbes Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 16 July 2021 There was many a tense moment for George as Elizabeth moped about in tearful martyrdom while her mother and grandmother, the doughty old Queen Mary, fought her battle for her. — Lily Rothman, Time, 9 Apr. 2021 Portraits of a few of these feckless rotters line the wall on the way to dinner, along with the portrait of another of the doughty women who seem to keep popping up in Yorkshire. — Joshua Levine, Travel + Leisure, 7 Mar. 2021 These days the doughty turkey has won the loyalty of millions of people for another reason—as a favourite festive-season meal. — The Economist, 23 Dec. 2020 There has been scant polling in Michigan accounting for the possibility of an Amash candidacy, but what little there is likely sends a shiver through the heart of Biden’s most doughty institutional supporters. — Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 29 Apr. 2020 One doughty grey-haired woman in a woollen jumper leads her tribe down the broken walkway, her walking stick pointing the way. — Tom Rowley, 1843, 6 Mar. 2020 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'doughty.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.