dare
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɛə/Category:English 1-syllable words#DARECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#DARE
- (General American) IPA(key): /dɛ(ə)ɹ/Category:English 1-syllable words#DARECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#DARE
Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#DAREAudio (General American): (file) - Homophones: Dair; dear, deer (both cheer–chair merger)Category:English terms with homophones#DARE
- Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)Category:Rhymes:English/ɛə(ɹ)#DARECategory:Rhymes:English/ɛə(ɹ)/1 syllable#DARE
Etymology 1
Category:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#DARECategory:English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰers-#DAREFrom Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#DARECategory:English terms derived from Middle English#DARE durren, from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#DARECategory:English terms derived from Old English#DARE durran, from Proto-West GermanicCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#DARECategory:English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#DARE *durʀan, from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#DARECategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#DARE *durzaną (“to dare”), from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European#DARECategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#DARE *dʰedʰórse (“to dare”), reduplicated stative of the root *dʰers- (“to be bold, to dare”), an *-s- extension of *dʰer- (“to hold, support”).
Cognate with Low German dören, Dutch durven, German turren, Sanskrit दधर्ष (dadhárṣa)Category:Sanskrit terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#DARE, but also with Ancient Greek θρασύς (thrasús), Albanian nder, Lithuanian drįsti, Russian дерза́ть (derzátʹ).
Verb
dare (third-person singular simple present dares or (modal) dare or (obsolete) dast, present participle daring, simple past and past participle dared or (obsolete) durst)Category:English lemmas#DARECategory:English verbs#DARECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
- (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#DARE) To have enough courage (to do something).
- I wouldn't dare (to) argue with my boss.Category:English terms with usage examples#DARE
- No one dares (to) criticize his decisions.Category:English terms with usage examples#DARE
- They daredn't tell me the truth, even though I dared (to) acknowledge my mistake to them.Category:English terms with usage examples#DARE
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- The fellow dares not deceive me.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
- 1832, Thomas Macaulay, Parliamentary Reform:
- Why then did not the ministers use their new law? Because they durst not, because they could not.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
- 1980, “Double Dare”, in In the Flat Field, performed by Bauhaus, Track 1:
- Don't back away just yet / From destinations set / I dare you to be proud / To dare to shout aloud / For convictions that you feel / Like sound from bells to pealCategory:English terms with quotations#DARE
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#DARE) To defy or challenge (someone to do something).
- I dare you to kiss that girl.Category:English terms with usage examples#DARE
- 1980, “Double Dare”, in In the Flat Field, performed by Bauhaus, Track 1:
- Don't back away just yet / From destinations set / I dare you to be proud / To dare to shout aloud / For convictions that you feel / Like sound from bells to pealCategory:English terms with quotations#DARE
- 2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 9:26 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 November 2024:
- Particular note, in this period, should be made of the actions of Joseph Denman, commander of the Northern Division of the Squadron, who went on an absolutely ruthless and systematic campaign along the African coast, burning so-called "slaving factories" to the ground and openly daring anyone who objected to try and stop him.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#DARE) To have enough courage to meet or do something, go somewhere, etc.; to face up to.
- Will you dare death to reach your goal?Category:English terms with usage examples#DARE
- 1886, Clarence King, The Century:
- To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#DARE) To terrify; to daunt.
- c. 1608–1611, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Maid’s Tragedy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i:
- For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs, Would dare a woman.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
- (archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#DARE, transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#DARE) To drive larks to the ground by scaring them (for instance, with mirrors or hawks) so they can be caught in nets.
- 1516, John Skelton, Magnificence, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 35:
- I have an hobby can make larks to dareCategory:English terms with quotations#DARE
- 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- dare us, like larksCategory:English terms with quotations#DARE
- 1815, Church of England, Sermons: Or, Homilies, page 210:
- How, think you, would that godly prince (if he were now living) handle our idols, set up against God's commandment directly, and being figures of nothing but folly, and for fools to gaze on, till they become as wise as the blocks themselves which they stare on, and so fall down as dared larks in that gaze, and being themselves alive, worship a dead stock or stone, gold or silver, and so become idolaters […]Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
Usage notes
- Dare is a semimodal verb. When used as an auxiliary, the speaker can choose whether to use do-support and the auxiliary "to" when forming negative and interrogative sentences. For example, "I don't dare (to) go", "I dare not go", "I didn't dare (to) go", and "I dared not go" are all correct. Similarly "Dare you go?", "Do you dare (to) go?", "Dared you go?", and "Did you dare (to) go?" are all correct. When not an auxiliary verb, it is different: "I dared him to do it." usually is not written as "I dared him do it.", and "Did you dare him to do it?" is almost never written as "Dared you him do it?"
- In negative and interrogative sentences where "do" is not used, the third-person singular form of the verb is usually "dare" and not "dares": "Dare he go? He dare not go."
- Colloquially, "dare not" can be contracted to "daren't". According to the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, "daren’t" is used occasionally in ordinary past time contexts (Kim daren’t tell them so I had to do it myself).
- Rare regional forms dassn't and dasn't also exist in the present tense, and archaic forms dursn't and durstn't in the past tense.
- The expression dare say, used almost exclusively in the first-person singular and in the present tense, means "think probable". It is also spelt daresay.
- Historically, the simple past of dare was durst. In the first half of the 19th century, it was overtaken by dared, which has been markedly more common ever since.
Derived terms
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also
Noun
dare (plural dares)Category:English lemmas#DARECategory:English nouns#DARECategory:English countable nouns#DARECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
- A challenge to prove courage.
- I did it just for a dare.Category:English terms with usage examples#DARE
- The quality of daring; venturesomeness; boldness.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- It lends a lustre […] / A large dare to our great enterprise.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
- Defiance; challenge.
- [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume (please specify the book number), London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC:
- Childish, unworthy dares / Are not enough to part our powers.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
- c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
- Sextus Pompeius / Hath given the dare to Caesar.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
- (gamesCategory:en:Games#DARE) In the game truth or dare, the choice to perform a dare set by the other players.
- When asked truth or dare, she picked dare.Category:English terms with usage examples#DARE
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#DARECategory:English terms derived from Middle English#DARE daren, from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#DARECategory:English terms derived from Old English#DARE darian.
Verb
dare (third-person singular simple present dares, present participle daring, simple past and past participle dared)Category:English lemmas#DARECategory:English verbs#DARECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Etymology 3
Noun
dare (plural dares)Category:English lemmas#DARECategory:English nouns#DARECategory:English countable nouns#DARECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
- A small fish, the dace[1]
- 1766, Richard Brookes, The art of angling, rock and sea-fishing:
- The Dare is not unlike a Chub, but proportionably less; his Body is more white and flatter, and his Tail more forked.Category:English terms with quotations#DARE
References
- ↑ “dare”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Category:English modal verbs#DARE Category:en:Leuciscine fish#DARECrimean Tatar
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: da‧re
Noun
dareCategory:Crimean Tatar lemmas#DARECategory:Crimean Tatar nouns#DARECategory:Crimean Tatar entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Declension
References
Czech
Pronunciation
Noun
dareCategory:Czech non-lemma forms#DARECategory:Czech noun forms#DARECategory:Czech entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
French
Pronunciation
Interjection
dareCategory:French lemmas#DARECategory:French interjections#DARECategory:French entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Related terms
Italian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from LatinCategory:Italian terms inherited from Latin#DARECategory:Italian terms derived from Latin#DARE dare, from Proto-ItalicCategory:Italian terms inherited from Proto-Italic#DARECategory:Italian terms derived from Proto-Italic#DARE *didō, from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:Italian terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European#DARECategory:Italian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#DARE *dédeh₃ti, from the root *deh₃- (“give”).
Pronunciation
Verb
dàre (first-person singular present (with syntactic gemination after the verb) dòCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE, first-person singular past historic dièdiCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE or diédiCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE or déttiCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE or (traditional) dèttiCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE, past participle dàtoCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE, first-person singular future daròCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARECategory:Italian links with redundant alt parameters#DARE, first-person singular subjunctive dìaCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE, first-person singular imperfect subjunctive déssiCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE, second-person singular imperative dàiCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE or dà'Category:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE, auxiliary avéreCategory:Italian links with redundant wikilinks#DARE)Category:Italian lemmas#DARECategory:Italian verbs#DARECategory:Italian verbs ending in -are#DARECategory:Italian irregular verbs#DARECategory:Italian verbs with irregular present indicative#DARECategory:Italian verbs with irregular present subjunctive#DARECategory:Italian verbs with irregular imperative#DARECategory:Italian verbs with irregular past historic#DARECategory:Italian verbs with irregular imperfect subjunctive#DARECategory:Italian verbs with irregular future#DARECategory:Italian verbs taking avere as auxiliary#DARECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE (transitiveCategory:Italian transitive verbs#DARE)
- to give (to transfer the possession/holding of something to someone else)
- 1211, anonymous author, untitled document; collected in “Frammento di un libro di banchieri fiorentini scritto nel 1211 [Fragment of a book of Florentine bankers, written in 1211]”, in Ernesto Monaci, editor, Crestomazia italiana dei primi secoli, con prospetto delle inflessioni grammaticali e glossario, volume 1, Città di Castello: S. Lapi, 1889, page 22, lines 91–92:
- […] ci diè Apollonio soldi .xvij. e denari .v. di sua mano (Tuscan)Category:Italian terms with quotations#DARE
- [ […] ci diè Apollonio soldi 17 e denari 5 di sua mano]
- […] Apollonio himself gave us 17 soldi and 5 denari
- a. 1306, Jacopone da Todi, De la beata Vergine Maria [About the blessed Virgin Mary]; collected in Giovanni Ferri, editor, Le laude [The lauds], Bari: Gius. Laterza & figli, 1915, page 4:
- Puoi che consentisti, — lo figliol concepisti. / Cristo amoroso desti — a la gente dannata. (Umbrian)Category:Italian terms with quotations#DARE
- [Poiché […] ]
- Because you empathized, you conceived the son. You gave the loving Christ to the suffering peoples.
- 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XVIII”, in Inferno [Hell], line 90; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:
- Ello passò per l’isola di Lenno / poi che l’ardite femmine spietate / tutti li maschi loro a morte dienno.Category:Italian terms with quotations#DARE
- He passed through the island of Lemnos / after the women, brave and merciless, / killed all their men.
- (literally, “He passed through the island of Lemnos / after the brave women merciless / all the males of theirs to death gave.”)
- to yield, to bear, to produce, to return
- (ditransitiveCategory:Italian ditransitive verbs#DARE) to name, to call, to refer to [with del ‘as’, along with a or a dative pronoun ‘to (someone)’]
- il bue che dà del cornuto all'asino ― the pot calling the kettle black (literally, “the ox calling the donkey horned”)Category:Italian terms with usage examples#DARE
- dare del tu ― to thouCategory:Italian terms with usage examples#DARE
- (transitiveCategory:Italian transitive verbs#DARE, vulgarCategory:Italian vulgarities#DARE, slangCategory:Italian slang#DARE) chiefly in the form darla: acquiesce to a sexual intercourse
Usage notes
- It is customary to write a grave accent on some forms of the indicative present, to distinguish them from homographs:
- The imperative forms of the second-person singular are compounded with pronouns as follows:
Conjugation
1With syntactic gemination after the verb.
2With written accent.
3Traditional.
Including lesser-used forms:
1With syntactic gemination after the verb.
2With written accent.
3Obsolete.
4Traditional.
5Disused.
6Poetic.
Derived terms
Noun
dare m (uncountable)Category:Italian lemmas#DARECategory:Italian nouns#DARECategory:Italian uncountable nouns#DARECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Italian masculine nouns#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE (accountingCategory:it:Accounting#DARE)
References
- ↑ dare in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2025
Further reading
Anagrams
Japanese
Romanization
dareCategory:Japanese non-lemma forms#DARECategory:Japanese romanizations#DARECategory:Japanese terms with non-redundant manual script codes#DARECategory:Japanese entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Latin
Pronunciation
Verb
dareCategory:Latin non-lemma forms#DARECategory:Latin verb forms#DARECategory:Latin entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
- inflection of dō:
Leonese
Etymology
From LatinCategory:Leonese terms inherited from Latin#DARECategory:Leonese terms derived from Latin#DARE dare, from Proto-ItalicCategory:Leonese terms inherited from Proto-Italic#DARECategory:Leonese terms derived from Proto-Italic#DARE *didō, from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:Leonese terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European#DARECategory:Leonese terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#DARE *dédeh₃ti, from the root *deh₃- (“give”).
Verb
dareCategory:Leonese lemmas#DARECategory:Leonese verbs#DARECategory:Leonese entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
- to give
References
- “dare”, in Diccionario Castellano-Leonés / Leonés-Castellano [Spanish-Leonese / Leonese-Spanish Dictionary] (in Spanish), La Asociación L'Alderique, 2012–2026
Norman
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)Category:Requests for etymologies in Norman entries#DARE
Noun
dare ? (plural dares)Category:Norman lemmas#DARECategory:Norman nouns#DARECategory:Norman entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Requests for gender in Norman entries#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Synonyms
Old English
Pronunciation
Noun
dareCategory:Old English non-lemma forms#DARECategory:Old English noun forms#DARECategory:Old English entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
- inflection of daru:
Romanian
Etymology
From da + -reCategory:Romanian terms suffixed with -re#DARE.
Noun
dare f (plural dări)Category:Romanian lemmas#DARECategory:Romanian nouns#DARECategory:Romanian nouns with red links in their headword lines#DARECategory:Romanian countable nouns#DARECategory:Romanian entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Romanian feminine nouns#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Declension
Serbo-Croatian
Noun
dare (Cyrillic spelling даре)Category:Serbo-Croatian non-lemma forms#DARECategory:Serbo-Croatian noun forms#DARECategory:Requests for accents in Serbo-Croatian noun form entries#DARECategory:Serbo-Croatian entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Slovak
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dare/, [ˈdare]Category:Slovak 2-syllable words#DARECategory:Slovak terms with IPA pronunciation#DARE
- Rhymes: -areCategory:Rhymes:Slovak/are#DARECategory:Rhymes:Slovak/are/2 syllables#DARE
- Hyphenation: da‧re
Noun
dare mCategory:Slovak non-lemma forms#DARECategory:Slovak noun forms#DARECategory:Slovak entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Venetan
Etymology
From LatinCategory:Venetan terms inherited from Latin#DARECategory:Venetan terms derived from Latin#DARE dare.
Verb
dareCategory:Venetan lemmas#DARECategory:Venetan verbs#DARECategory:Venetan entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
- to give
References
West Makian
Etymology
Pronunciation
Verb
dareCategory:West Makian lemmas#DARECategory:West Makian verbs#DARECategory:West Makian entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
- (transitiveCategory:West Makian transitive verbs#DARE) to fall (from a height)
Conjugation
References
Zazaki
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dɑˈɾə/Category:Zazaki terms with IPA pronunciation#DARE
- Hyphenation: da‧re
Noun
dare fCategory:Zazaki lemmas#DARECategory:Zazaki nouns#DARECategory:Zazaki entries with incorrect language header#DARECategory:Zazaki feminine nouns#DARECategory:Pages with entries#DARECategory:Pages with 16 entries#DARE
Category:zza:Plants#DARE