Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Marked by stouthearted courage; brave.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Strong; brave; spirited; valiant; powerful: as, a doughty hero.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Able; strong; valiant; redoubtable.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Brave; bold; courageous; valiant; intrepid; stouthearted; fearless.
  • adjective Hardy; strenuous; dauntless; resolute.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English dohtig; see dheugh- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English doughty, from Old English dohtiġ, dyhtiġ ("good, competent, valiant, doughty, strong"), from Proto-Germanic *duhtiz (“note, usefulness”) + Proto-Germanic *-igaz (suffix), equivalent to dought +‎ -y. Cognate with Scots douchty, douchtie ("bold, valiant"), Dutch duchtig ("severe, strict"), German tüchtig ("efficient, capable, hard, competent, big"), Danish dygtig ("virtuous, proficient"), Swedish duktig ("good, efficient, clever, capable, smart"), Icelandic dygðugur ("virtuous, stable"), Russian дюжий ("sturdy").

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Examples

Comments

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  • doughty in the sense of brave holding together

    December 28, 2006

  • "By heaven, Theodore Purefoy, thou hast done a doughty deed and no botch!"

    Joyce, Ulysses, 14

    January 27, 2007

  • I always want it to rhyme with sought. No reason.

    January 31, 2007

  • A hundred heralds she sent out

    To summon in her sight all doughty men

    from "The Queen's Complaint," Sylvia Plath

    April 14, 2008

  • DUKE. When, to evade Destruction's hand,

    To hide they all proceeded,

    No soldier in that gallant band

    Hid half as well as he did.

    He lay concealed throughout the war,

    And so preserved his gore, O!

    That unaffected,

    Undetected,

    Well-connected

    Warrior,

    The Duke of Plaza-Toro!

    ALL. In every doughty deed, ha, ha!

    He always took the lead, ha, ha!

    That unaffected,

    Undetected,

    Well-connected

    Warrior,

    The Duke of Plaza-Toro!

    -W.S. Gilbert, The Gondoliers

    August 21, 2008

  • I'm with jennarenn.

    September 9, 2010