What does "daredevil" mean?

A person who engages in very risky behavior, especially one who is motivated by a craving for excitement or attention.

Daredevil

Common synonyms include: temerarious, adrenaline junkie, adrenaline junkie, adventurer, adventurer, adventuresome.

adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
A person who engages in very risky behavior, especially one who is motivated by a craving for excitement or attention.
"Even as a youngster, Steven was a bit of a daredevil riding up homemade wooden ramps on his BMX."
2
a reckless impetuous irresponsible person wordnet

Verb

1
To behave in a reckless, adventurous, or physically risky manner. intransitive

Adjective

1
Recklessly bold; adventurous.
"The climactic scene of “Rebel without a Cause” is the group of very daredevil teens playing chicken."

Adjective

"In daredevil car races, there are moments when the drivers place themselves between the devil and the deep blue sea, trying to take the lead."

From dare + devil; an exocentric compound, "one who dares the devil".

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.