Let’s Not Be Negative: Part 2

Be Word Wise

In Part 1, we looked at ‘dishevelled’ and the possible uses of ‘shevelled’.

Next on the list….

Unscathed

‘Unscathed’ means ‘without harm or hurt or other misfortune’.

Examples

He came through the ordeal unscathed.
The accident was serious but, thankfully, she emerged from the wreck unscathed.

The word is a genuine negative, with the prefix ‘un’ meaning ‘not’.

Obviously, then, its opposite is ‘scathed’.

But can you be ‘scathed’?

Scathed

It’s a good question. The English word once existed but is now obsolete and very rarely, if ever, used.

‘Scathed’ comes from similar words in old Norse and other old Germanic languages and appeared in 12^th century English as the past participle of scathen, meaning ‘to injure, harm or damage’.

A similar and closely related word is still used in everyday English.

Scathing and scathingly

‘Scathing’ is an adjective, used figuratively but not literally, to describe words and actions as hurtful and damaging.

Examples

His work was subjected to scathing reviews that almost destroyed him.
Her scathing remarks had left deep scars that would take time to heal.

The adverb is ‘scathingly’, also used figuratively.

Examples

Their scathingly satirical comments cut him to the bone.
She characterised the hurtful remarks as scathingly honest criticism.

Bring back ‘scathe’

In my opinion, we should resurrect the verb ‘scathe’, as in:

I feel utterly scathed by your actions.
Their words were designed to scathe, and they succeeded.

The word has a satisfying sound that echoes what it means – to cut and to hurt – with overtones similar to those of ‘sear’, ‘scorch’, ‘scar’ and even ‘scythe’.

There might even be a good noun in there, too.

What a scathingly brilliant idea!