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Can you be scathed instead of unscathed?
We often hear of a person coming through some difficult circumstance, or dangerous endeavor, and “emerging unscathed,” yet we rarely hear of anyone “emerging scathed.” Why is this? Scathe is a word: it may function as a noun (“harm, injury”) or as a verb (“to do harm to,” “to assail with withering denunciation”). It is not as commonly found as it once was, and now primarily serves as the basis for the adjective scathing (“bitterly severe”) or for the latter portion of unscathed. So you can say that someone “emerged scathed” if you wish, but be advised that it will have a curiously archaic sound to it.
Examples of unscathed in a Sentence
Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026
Brady expressed joy about watching the event and exited the stage unscathed.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 11 May 2026
Because the jagged, shallow seabed near the fjord’s mouth acted like a speed bump that sapped the wave’s energy, people onboard the cruise ship came out of the event unscathed.
—Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 10 May 2026
After allowing the first three hitters of the game to reach safely, Snell emerged mostly unscathed in the first.
—Katie Woo, New York Times, 10 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for unscathed
Cite this Entry
“Unscathed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unscathed. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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unscathed
adjective
