"derring-do" meaning in English

See derring-do in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˌdɛɹɪŋˈduː/ [UK], /ˌdɛɹɪŋˈduː/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-derring-do.wav
Etymology: From Middle English daring (to) do, misinterpreted as a noun by Edmund Spenser. Etymology templates: {{der|en|enm|-}} Middle English, {{coinage|en|Edmund Spenser|nobycat=1|notext=1}} Edmund Spenser Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} derring-do (uncountable)
  1. Valiant deeds in desperate times. Tags: uncountable Translations (valiant deeds in desperate times): þrekvirki [neuter] (Icelandic), bohaterstwo [neuter] (Polish)
    Sense id: en-derring-do-en-noun-rMb7-toC Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Icelandic translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 65 35 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 71 29 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 59 41 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 72 28 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 72 28 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 74 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Icelandic translations: 63 37 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 76 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 70 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 62 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 76 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 83 17 Disambiguation of 'valiant deeds in desperate times': 94 6
  2. Brave and adventurous (albeit often reckless) actions. Tags: uncountable Translations (brave and adventurous actions): heldendaden (Dutch), waaghalzerij (Dutch), prouesse [feminine] (French), hauts faits [masculine, plural] (French), exploits [masculine, plural] (French), faits d'armes [masculine, plural] (French), acte de bravoure [masculine] (French), prodezza (Italian), brawura [feminine] (Polish), junactwo [neuter] (Polish), façanha [feminine] (Portuguese), proeza [feminine] (Portuguese), безрассудство (bezrassudstvo) (Russian), proeza (Spanish), hazaña (Spanish), gesta [feminine] (Spanish), hombrada [feminine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-derring-do-en-noun-DmXdwlMx Disambiguation of 'brave and adventurous actions': 17 83
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: derring-doery
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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        "Valiant deeds in desperate times."
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          "desperate",
          "desperate"
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          "code": "is",
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          "sense": "valiant deeds in desperate times",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "þrekvirki"
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          "_dis1": "94 6",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "valiant deeds in desperate times",
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          "word": "bohaterstwo"
        }
      ]
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          "ref": "1983, Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic, published 2022, page 225:",
          "text": "Some pirates achieved immortality by great deeds of cruelty or derring-do. Some achieved immortality by amassing great wealth. But the captain had long ago decided that he would, on the whole, prefer to achieve immortality by not dying.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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      ],
      "id": "en-derring-do-en-noun-DmXdwlMx",
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        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "lang_code": "nl",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "word": "heldendaden"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "lang_code": "nl",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "word": "waaghalzerij"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "prouesse"
        },
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          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
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          "word": "hauts faits"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
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          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
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            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "exploits"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "faits d'armes"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "acte de bravoure"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "lang_code": "it",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "word": "prodezza"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
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          ],
          "word": "brawura"
        },
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          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "tags": [
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          ],
          "word": "junactwo"
        },
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          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "façanha"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "proeza"
        },
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          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "bezrassudstvo",
          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "word": "безрассудство"
        },
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          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "word": "proeza"
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          "_dis1": "17 83",
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          "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
          "tags": [
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      "ipa": "/ˌdɛɹɪŋˈduː/",
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}
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      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "lang_code": "is",
      "sense": "valiant deeds in desperate times",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "þrekvirki"
    },
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      "code": "pl",
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      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "valiant deeds in desperate times",
      "tags": [
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      "word": "bohaterstwo"
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      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "word": "heldendaden"
    },
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      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "word": "waaghalzerij"
    },
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      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "prouesse"
    },
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      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "hauts faits"
    },
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      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "exploits"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "faits d'armes"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
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      ],
      "word": "acte de bravoure"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "word": "prodezza"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "brawura"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "junactwo"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "façanha"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "proeza"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "bezrassudstvo",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "word": "безрассудство"
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      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
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    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "word": "hazaña"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "gesta"
    },
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      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "brave and adventurous actions",
      "tags": [
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      ],
      "word": "hombrada"
    }
  ],
  "word": "derring-do"
}

Download raw JSONL data for derring-do meaning in English (5.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.