daring
noun1
Usually Boldness.
daring
adjUK /ˈdɛə.ɹɪŋ/ · US /ˈdɛɚ.ɪŋ/
1
Adventurous, willing to take on or look for risks; overbold.
- “There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
2
Courageous or showing bravery; doughty.
- […]By this scimitar, That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince That won three fields of Sultan Solyman, I would outstare the sternest eyes that look, Outbrave the heart most daring on earth, Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear, Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey, To win thee, lady. […]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
3
Racy; sexually provocative.
- Just what I wanted, seeing my mom in a daring bikini—or worse yet, my being in one. I had the perfect drawer I could bury it in.2013, Randy Rawls, Best Defense, page 59:
- Derived terms
- daringly, daringness, fortune favors the daring, outdaring, undaring