Standard Lemma guide

derring-doery

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Derring-do.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: nonce-word, uncountable

Examples

  • 1953, Isaac Asimov, Second Foundation, Gnome Press, part II: “Search By the Foundation”, chapter 11: “Stowaway”, He left Terminus in a sullen distemper. No one was at the port to see him off. [...] He, Homir Munn, was risking his neck in derring-doery of the most outrageous sort, and yet he left alone.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English derring-do Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Old French -ier Latin -ia Old French -ie Old French -eriebor. Middle English -erie English -ery English derring-doery From derring-do + -ery.