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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
CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
Biologists observed that the trees remained unscathed after several lightning strikes, and some even appeared to benefit from these incidents, as the strikes damaged parasitic vines and competing vegetation surrounding the trunk.
—JSTOR Daily, 15 Nov. 2025
The shutdown lasted through nearly half of November, meaning that this month’s data also will not emerge unscathed, economists said.
—Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 14 Nov. 2025
But many of those who appear to have emerged relatively unscathed, with their lives, homes and irreplaceable mementos intact, have suffered indescribably painful losses that no insurance settlement can ameliorate.
—Todd Longwell, Variety, 12 Nov. 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 25 Nov. 2025.
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unscathed
adjective
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