What does durst mean?
Durst is the archaic past tense of the verb dare, used to mean that someone had the courage or audacity to do something. Where modern English says 'she dared not speak', older English said 'she durst not speak'. The form was standard through the Early Modern period and appears frequently in the King James Bible ('who is able to stand before...? who durst...') and throughout Shakespeare's plays, but it gradually gave way to 'dared', which is now the sole normal past tense. Today 'durst' survives almost exclusively in literary quotation, historical fiction, pastiche, and deliberately archaic or playful register. Writers reach for it to lend a sentence an antique, solemn, or mock-heroic flavour, so encountering it usually signals that the text is imitating — or quoting — the language of an earlier era rather than reflecting contemporary usage.
verb (archaic past tense)Durst is the archaic past tense of the verb 'dare', meaning to have had the courage or boldness to do something. It survives chiefly in literary, biblical, and deliberately archaizing English.
- Archaic past tense of 'dare': to have had the courage or boldness to do something.
"She durst not speak a word against the king's decree."
"None of the courtiers durst meet the dragon's gaze."
"He durst not ask his father for another coin."
Before anyone 'dared' to do anything, they 'durst' — and Shakespeare's characters said it constantly.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of durst
Durst descends from Old English 'durste' (also 'dorste'), the past tense of the verb 'durran', meaning to dare. The verb belongs to the ancient Germanic verb family behind Modern English 'dare' (Old English 'dearr'), with cognates in other Germanic languages. As English moved into the modern era, the regularized form 'dared' displaced 'durst', which by the eighteenth century was already felt as archaic, though it lingered in literary and dialectal use.
How durst is actually used
Strictly archaic and literary; using 'durst' in ordinary modern speech sounds deliberately old-fashioned, poetic, or humorous. It is most at home in quotations from the King James Bible, Shakespeare, and other pre-modern literature.
Easily confused with durst
'Durst' is simply the archaic past tense of 'dare', equivalent in meaning to 'dared', which is the modern standard past tense.