- Today's Word
Undaunted
un-DAWN-ted
Definition
(adjective) Not intimidated or discouraged by difficulty, danger, or repeated setbacks; resolutely and fearlessly persistent.
Example
Undaunted by three failed attempts, she submitted the grant application a fourth time — and won.
Word Origin
From un- (“not”) + daunted, past participle of daunt — from Old French danter, derived from Latin domitare (“to tame, to subdue”), from domare (“to tame”). To be daunted is to be tamed or subdued by fear. To be undaunted is to be untameable — to refuse to be broken down. The same Latin root gives us “dominant” and “dominate.”
Fun Fact
Ernest Shackleton’s failed 1914 Antarctic expedition — the Endurance voyage — is often cited as history’s greatest example of undaunted leadership. When his ship was crushed by ice and sank, Shackleton led his entire 27-man crew on an 800-mile open-boat journey across the most treacherous ocean in the world, then crossed unmapped mountains on foot, and ultimately rescued every single person without losing a life. He reportedly advertised for crew with the line: “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful.” The word “undaunted” barely covers it.