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 WebJake Gyllenhaal did not walk away from filming his new Road House movie unscathed.—Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2024 The former South Carolina governor made it through the state’s challenge filing period unscathed.—Brittany Carloni, The Indianapolis Star, 16 Feb. 2024 The Associated Press issued a fact-check article about the incident, clarifying that its own reporters had watched Biden walk down the plane’s stairs unscathed.—Clare Malone, The New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2024 For-profit enrollments up as Biden aims to tighten oversight
Unlike public undergraduate schools, one sector of higher education that emerged from the pandemic relatively unscathed was for-profit colleges.—Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2024 And good news: Our travel stroller made it to its destination unscathed this time.—Cecily McAndrews, Parents, 8 Mar. 2024 Smoky was the only one to make it out of the encounter unscathed.—Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 7 Mar. 2024 Harrison recorded his second strikeout to end the inning unscathed, freezing James Outman with a 94-mph fastball on the outside corner.—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024 But Martin did not finish Saturday’s game unscathed, leaving the contest with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter after Butler’s hand hit him in the mouth.—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 2024
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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