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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
Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
But that doesn't mean a child will survive unscathed.
—Michal Ruprecht, NPR, 8 Sep. 2025
No team faces the league’s best on a week-to-week basis and emerges unscathed.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 7 Sep. 2025
As the night wanes and the truth behind Cal’s act and Horn’s past comes to light, the conflict spills out into the sunshine, leaving none of the characters unscathed.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 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 11 Sep. 2025.
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unscathed
adjective
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