Standard Lemma guide

doughty

adj · name · noun · 5 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdaʊti/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈdaʊti/
  • General-American: [-ɾi]
  • [ˈdʌʊ̯ɾi] Canada, Canadian raising
  • rhymes with -aʊti
  • homophone: dowdy (in accents with flapping)
  • CMU ARPABET: D AO1 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Bold; brave, courageous.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, literary

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dauntless, fearless, intrepid, resolute, stouthearted, valiant, adventurous, mettlesome, aweless, bad, bold, brass-balled, chivalrous, courageous, daredevil, daring, doughty, fortitudinous, gallant, gutsy, heroic, lionhearted, orped, plucky, stalwart, stalworth, unafraid, undaunted, valorous, venturesome

Antonyms: backboneless, base, bitch-ass, boneless, caitiff, candy-assed, chicken, chicken-hearted, chicken-livered, chickenshit, courageless, cowardish, cowardly, cowardy, cowhearted, cowish, craven, cravenhearted, cringey, dastard, dastardly, dickless, dough-faced, fainthearted, fearful, fraidy, gizzardless, heartless, invalorous, invertebrate, gutless, hen-hearted, kiasi, lily-livered, liver-faced, liver-hearted, low-hearted, miching, milky, milk-livered, mouse-hearted, mousy, nerveless, niddering, nidering, niding, nithing, nutless, pigeon-livered, poltroonish, poor-spirited, punk, pusillanimous, pussylike, ratlike, rabbit-hearted, recrayed, retromingent, sissy, spineless, timid, timorous, unhearty, weak-kneed, white-hearted, white-livered, wimpish, yellow, yellow-bellied

2

adj

Meaning 2

Robust, sturdy; strong and perhaps stout.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, literary

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Catachresis for dowdy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncommon

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

name

Meaning 4

A surname transferred from the nickname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A person who is bold or brave.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English doughty (“brave, bold, valiant”), from Old English dohtiġ, dyhtiġ (“competent, good, strong, valiant”), from Proto-West Germanic *duhtīg. The English word may be analysed as dought + -y, and is cognate with Scots douchty, douchtie (“bold, valiant”), Dutch duchtig (“severe, strict”), German tüchtig (“capable, competent, efficient; big; hard”), Danish dygtig (“virtuous, proficient”), Swedish duktig (“efficient; good; capable, clever, smart”), Icelandic dygðugur (“virtuous, stable”). The noun is derived from the adjective.

From doughty, a nickname for a powerful and brave man, especially a champion jouster.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: смел (smel) — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Bulgarian: реши́телен (rešítelen) — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Dutch: dapper — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Italian: coraggioso — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Italian: intrepido — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Italian: indomito — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Italian: baldo — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Italian: temerario — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Italian: ardito — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Middle English: doughty — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Russian: сме́лый (smélyj) — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Russian: хра́брый (xrábryj) — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Russian: отва́жный (otvážnyj) — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Russian: до́блестный (dóblestnyj) — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Russian: реши́тельный (rešítelʹnyj) — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Spanish: intrépido — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Spanish: intrépida — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Spanish: indómito — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Spanish: indómita — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Spanish: temerario — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Spanish: temeraria — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Spanish: temerario — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Turkish: cesur — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave
  • Ottoman Turkish: قوچاق (koçak) — bold; brave, courageous — see also brave