daunt
/dɔːnt/
"daunt" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“daunt” is an uncommon English word, ranked #90,339 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #90,339
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To discourage, intimidate.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | daunt |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɔːnt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #90,339 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “daunt” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for daunt is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɔːnt/. Corpus data places it at rank #90,339 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for daunt, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, donter (“to tame”), from Latin domitō (“tame”, verb), frequentative of Latin domō (“tame, conquer”, verb), from Proto-Italic *domaō, from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- (“to domesticate, tame”). Doublet of d… The correct English form is daunt, spelled D-A-U-N-T.
Definition
- 1To discourage, intimidate.
- 2To overwhelm.
Etymology
From Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, donter (“to tame”), from Latin domitō (“tame”, verb), frequentative of Latin domō (“tame, conquer”, verb), from Proto-Italic *domaō, from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- (“to domesticate, tame”). Doublet of dompt.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “daunt”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-A-U-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɔːnt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.