unscathed

adjective

un·​scathed ˌən-ˈskāt͟hd 

: wholly unharmed : not injured

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

She escaped from the wreckage unscathed.

The administration was left relatively unscathed by the scandal.

Recent Examples on the Web

Children and teens made it out virtually unscathed, with just four percent of deaths occurring to visitors under the age of 14. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 16 July 2026

American private equity funds have largely sailed through the sweeping rivalry unscathed, but Chinese peers have been squeezed from both ends, said Hu, whose firm manages about $20 billion in assets. — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 16 July 2026

While the outer aluminum skin suffered cosmetic battle damage, the inner core module emerged completely unscathed. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026

When the Martians attack in George Pal's 1953 movie, the US army — unsurprisingly — drop an atomic bomb on their invasion fleet, but they're left unscathed thanks to their powerful forcefields. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 4 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unscathed

• bathed

Kids Definition

unscathed

adjective

un·​scathed ˌən-ˈskāt͟hd 

ˈən-

: completely unharmed : not injured