adj

daunting

DAWN-tihng

adj

Making someone feel intimidated or discouraged because a task looks so difficult or big.

"Moving to a new country alone felt daunting at first."

"The stack of paperwork looked daunting, but she got through it in an afternoon."

How to Use Daunting

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishIntimidating in a way that makes you want to put a task off — big, scary, or overwhelming to start.

Common pairings

a daunting task find it daunting a daunting challenge

more daunting comparative, dauntings plural, most daunting superlative

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Can you complete this real example?

Moving to a new country alone felt _____ at first.

Built from the verb "daunt" (to intimidate or discourage), which came into English via Old French from Latin domare, "to tame."

bunting hunting mounting counting haunting taunting grunting flaunting accounting