Word: daunt (verb)

Associations

"Daunt" means to make someone feel afraid or less confident, usually because something seems difficult or scary.

• She was daunted by the big exam ahead. (She felt worried or scared about the exam.)
• The steep mountain did not daunt the hikers. (The mountain did not make the hikers lose courage.)
• Don’t be daunted by the new challenge; you can do it! (Don’t feel afraid or discouraged.) A well-known synonym is "intimidate." The difference is that "intimidate" often means to frighten someone to make them do or not do something, sometimes by threat, while "daunt" is more about feeling discouraged or losing confidence.

Substitution

Other words you can use instead of "daunt" are:

• discourage (makes someone less confident or eager)
• intimidate (makes someone afraid, often by threat)
• dishearten (makes someone lose hope or confidence) Each changes the tone a bit: "discourage" is softer, "intimidate" is stronger and more about fear, "dishearten" focuses on losing hope.

Deconstruction

"Daunt" comes from Old French "danter," which means to tame or subdue. The root idea is about making someone less bold or brave. It has no prefix or suffix here, just the base verb.

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when you felt daunted by something new or difficult?
• How would you encourage a friend who feels daunted by a big task?
• Is there a difference between feeling daunted and feeling nervous? How?