daunting

Contents

English

Etymology

daunt +‎ -ing

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔːntɪŋ/

Adjective

daunting (comparative more daunting, superlative most daunting)

1. Discouraging, inspiring fear.

   Synonyms: discouraging, disconcerting, frightening, formidable, unnerving, unsettling, dismaying

2. Overwhelming, intimidatingly impressive.

   Synonyms: intimidating, overwhelming

   • 1915, Edgar Jepson, chapter 9, in Happy Pollyooly: The Rich Little Poor Girl:

     She reached it soon after half-past two. She found its gloomy nineteenth-century façade, black with the smuts of ninety years, a little daunting, and mounted its broad steps in some trepidation. But she rang the bell hard and knocked firmly.

3. Appearing to be difficult.

   Synonyms: challenging, intimidating

   It was a daunting task, but it was accomplished with some forward planning.

Related terms

• dauntingly
• dauntless

Translations

discouraging, inspiring fear

• Czech: skličující, znepokojující, znepokojivý m, odrazující
• Dutch: beangstigend (nl), intimiderend (nl), ontmoedigend (nl)
• Finnish: pelottava (fi)
• French: décourageant (fr), intimidant (fr)
• German: abschreckend (de), beängstigend (de), einschüchternd (de), entmutigend (de)

• Italian: scoraggiante (it), avvilente (it), sconfortante (it), impressionante (it), spaventevole (it)
• Russian: пугающий (ru) (pugajuščij), устраша́ющий (ru) (ustrašájuščij)
• Serbo-Croatian: obeshrabrujuće
• Spanish: inquietante
• Turkish: göz korkutucu

overwhelming, intimidatingly impressive

• Czech: ohromující
• Dutch: intimiderend (nl), overweldigend (nl), indrukwekkend (nl)
• Finnish: musertava
• French: colossal (fr), titanesque (fr), monumental (fr)
• German: entmutigend (de), einschüchternd (de)
• Italian: desolante (it), opprimente (it), devastante (it)

• Russian: обескураживающий (ru) (obeskuraživajuščij), ошеломляющий (ru) (ošelomljajuščij)
• Serbo-Croatian: strahotno (sh), obeshrabrujuće
• Spanish: desolador, desalentador (es)
• Swedish: överväldigande (sv)
• Turkish: sindirici, cesaret kırıcı

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} hrozny, ^{(please verify)} strasny

Verb

daunting

1. present participle of daunt