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
Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 30 Mar. 2025
During the the Palisades Fire in January, some homes that had been specifically built to fire-resistant standards remained unscathed while everything around them was destroyed.
—Diana Olick, CNBC, 27 Mar. 2025
All of the tableware stood up well to normal use, however a few did not weather some of the more extreme abuse of the testing unscathed.
—Tom Mylan, Bon Appétit, 26 Feb. 2025
No one gets out unscathed, but Moore is left holding the bag.
—Eddie Mouradian, Vulture, 24 Feb. 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 16 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unscathed
adjective
Share