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 WebAnd while some of the most powerful men in the industry — including Weinstein and former CBS head Les Moonves — have seen their careers topple, others remain largely unscathed by allegations against them.—Aja Romano, Vox, 5 June 2024 What that means is faith and still standing unscathed.—Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 24 May 2024 Taiwan came out relatively unscathed despite experiencing its biggest earthquake in over two decades.—Devika Rao, theweek, 10 Apr. 2024 This is how Julie got to come out relatively unscathed and control her own redemption arc.—Lisa Kwon, Vulture, 24 Jan. 2024 See all Example Sentences for unscathed
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unscathed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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