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PlainSpell

daunting

daunt·ing/ˈdɔntɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb

daunting is spelled D-A-U-N-T-I-N-G: 8 letters and 2 syllables (daunt·ing). It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, daunting means “Discouraging; inspiring fear” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in daunting?

Letters8: D-A-U-N-T-I-N-G
Syllables2: daunt·ing
In writing2.5 times per million words; the 17,122nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is daunting?

Daunting appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce daunting?

  • UK /ˈdɔːntɪŋ/
  • US /ˈdɔntɪŋ/

Daunting has 2 syllables, split daunt·ing in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-daunting.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with daunting?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as daunting from its last stressed vowel (/ɔntɪŋ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of daunting

  • more daunting comparative
  • most daunting superlative
  • dauntings plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does daunting mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Discouraging; inspiring fear.

  2. 2

    Intimidatingly impressive; awe-inspiring, overwhelming.

  3. 3

    Appearing to be difficult; challenging.

    It was a daunting task, but it was accomplished with some forward planning.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of discouraging or intimidating; discouragement, intimidation.

  2. 2

    The act of defeating, overcoming, or overwhelming.

verb

  1. 1

    present participle and gerund of daunt (a form of daunt)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Daunting in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdécourageant, intimidant (discouraging; inspiring fear), colossal, monumental, titanesque (intimidatingly impressive – see also…)
Germanabschreckend, beängstigend, einschüchternd, entmutigend (discouraging; inspiring fear)
Spanishinquietante (discouraging; inspiring fear), desalentador, desolador (intimidatingly impressive – see also…), desmoralizante, abrumador (appearing to be difficult – see also challenging)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does daunting come from?

From daunt + -ing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after daunting