dare.
To have enough courage (to do something).
Meaning & usage
To have enough courage (to do something).
I wouldn't dare (to) argue with my boss.
No one dares (to) criticize his decisions.
To defy or challenge (someone to do something).
I dare you to kiss that girl.
To have enough courage to meet or do something, go somewhere, etc.; to face up to.
Will you dare death to reach your goal?
To terrify; to daunt.
To drive larks to the ground by scaring them (for instance, with mirrors or hawks) so they can be caught in nets.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English durren, from Old English durran, from Proto-West Germanic *durʀan, from Proto-Germanic *durzaną (“to dare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰedʰórse (“to dare”), reduplicated stative of the root *dʰers- (“to be bold, to dare”), an *-s- extension of *dʰer- (“to hold, support”). Cognates Cognate with Low German dören, Dutch durven, German thüren, Sanskrit दधर्ष (dadhárṣa), but also with Ancient Greek θρασύς (thrasús), Albanian nder, Lithuanian drįsti, Russian дерза́ть (derzátʹ).
A challenge to prove courage.
I did it just for a dare.
The quality of daring; venturesomeness; boldness.
Defiance; challenge.
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.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English durren, from Old English durran, from Proto-West Germanic *durʀan, from Proto-Germanic *durzaną (“to dare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰedʰórse (“to dare”), reduplicated stative of the root *dʰers- (“to be bold, to dare”), an *-s- extension of *dʰer- (“to hold, support”). Cognates Cognate with Low German dören, Dutch durven, German thüren, Sanskrit दधर्ष (dadhárṣa), but also with Ancient Greek θρασύς (thrasús), Albanian nder, Lithuanian drįsti, Russian дерза́ть (derzátʹ).
To stare stupidly or vacantly; to gaze as though amazed or terrified.
To lie or crouch down in fear.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English daren, from Old English darian.
A small fish, the dace
Try it on your idea.
dare has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.