dare

While the word dare is used widely and variously for bold behavior, a dare popularly refers to a silly or risky challenge a person is compelled to do as part of children’s games.

What are some other forms of dare?

double dare

What are some other words related to dare?

• truth or dare
• game on

The word dare generally means “to have the courage or boldness for something.” It can be positive (She dared to venture into outer space) or negative (Don’t you dare eat the last cookie!)

The verb dare is found in Old English, with the noun form, a “challenge” or “defiance,” coming in the 1500s.

Children popularly egg each other on to do a dare—or more tauntingly, the double dare. This is when a friend urges another to do something slightly dangerous or humiliating, sometimes as a prank (e.g., I dare you to ding-dong-ditch the neighbor’s house). Your friend doesn’t want to do it? Then double-dog dare them. This pastime inspired the 1980–90s Nickelodeon show Double Dare involving trivia and slimy, physical challenges.

And then there’s the game truth or dare, where players take turns challenging each other to answer personal or difficult questions (truth) or do an unpleasant task (dare). The term truth or dare has been dated to at least the 1930s, though forms of the game run back centuries. As early as the 1600s, for instance, children played a similar game called questions and commands.

These dares are not to be confused with D.A.R.E. In 1983, the school-based drug education program D.A.R.E., short for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, which started in Los Angeles and spread around the U.S. and U.K. Its “don’t do drugs” approach has been criticized over the decades for limited effectiveness, but in the 2010s D.A.R.E. revamped its curriculum to address concerns.

As noted, dare can be a noun or verb as well as refer to positive or negative actions, often for dramatic or humorous effect.

Who dares to wakes me at this hour pic.twitter.com/0JioZxSnkr

— Te~Amo& Pepe (@teandpepe) February 25, 2020

Children may challenge one another to dicey or goofy dares—with only their integrity at stake if they chicken out. Young adults may play truth or dare up late at sleepovers.

Dare also appears in a number of set phrases. The more old-fashioned-sounding Dare I say or I dare say preface a provocative or critical statement (Dare I say that dress is a little flashy?).

I dare you can be issued as a challenge, sometimes menacingly (Go ahead and try me. I dare you) or playfully (Name me something better than cheese. I dare you).

Daring to do something, to circle back to where we began, is usually admired, as it takes courage to try something dangerous, groundbreaking, or life-changing.

More examples of dare:

“After mocking one of the actor’s stunts on the Late Late show, Tom challenged the chat show host to do a skydive. It was a dare that couldn’t be ignored, so after a bit of training and with a camera team in tow, that’s what James did.”

—BBC, July 2018