venturousadj.
/ˈvɛn(t)ʃ(ə)rəs/, U.S. /ˈvɛn(t)ʃ(ə)rəs/ 1.
a. Of persons, etc.: Disposed to venture upon or undertake something of a dangerous or risky nature; willing to take risks or incur danger; bold, daring, or enterprising in action or opinion; adventurous, venturesome. Also const. at, in, of, or with to and infinitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > daring > venturousness > [adjective]
adventurousc1475
temeratc1560
venturous1576
dangerous1611
adventuresome1628
ventorious1640
venturesome1677
daresome1854
furthersome1862
dare-all1902
α.
β. 1578 T. Nicholas tr. F. Lopez de Gómara Pleasant Hist. Conquest W. India Pref. p. ii It is nowe approoved by the venterous travellour..Martin Frobisher.1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 32 Thou arte not..more venterous to challenge the combatte, then I valyaunt to aunswer the quarrel.1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 156 Some bold and venterous Empiricke, who made great boast of his deepe skill.1629 H. Burton Truth's Triumph 101 Taking vpon him (as he is very venterous) to answer an argument.a1660 Aphorismical Discov. in J. T. Gilbert Contemp. Hist. Ireland (1879) I. 256 The noble and venterous sparke, Phelim mc Tuhill Oneylle.γ. 1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. K His ventrus manhood and valure.1601 J. Weever Mirror of Martyrs sig. Cvv All the Armie, ventrous, valorous, bold.1642 D. Rogers Naaman 249 Let a besieger of a City be too ventrous, and what perill ensueth.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 205 Those who at the Spear are bold And vent'rous . View more context for this quotation1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 123 The youthful Prince, with loud allarm, Calls out the vent'rous Colony to swarm. View more context for this quotation1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey I. iii. 89 Savage Pyrates seek thro' seas unknown The lives of others, vent'rous of their own.1747 P. Francis tr. Horace Odes (ed. 2) i. xxxi. 16 The golden Goblet let Him drain, Who vent'rous plows th' Atlantic Main.1576 A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. ⁋iii b I waxed venturous, and like a confident fellowe amended my pase.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 63 b I count those, which wil vndertake to speake of euerie matter, rather venturous than learned.
1675 tr. W. Camden Hist. Princess Elizabeth (rev. ed.) iii. 328 Skenk a Frieslander and Sir Roger Williams a Welshman, two venturous men.
1694 J. Kettlewell Compan. for Penitent 21 A most presumptuously venturous and daring Sinner.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 128 But I had no Need to be ventrous; for I had no Want of Food.
1800 W. Wordsworth Brothers 275 Every corner Among these rocks, and every hollow place That venturous foot could reach.
1831 W. Scott Count Robert ii, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. I. 68 I know I am but too apt to be venturous in action.
1853 C. Brontë Villette I. xi. 192 The directress was very prudent, but she could also be intrepidly venturous.
b. absol. with the.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > daring > [noun] > one who is daring
venturous1583
hardydardy1593
darer1614
audacity1658
adventurist1815
philobat1955
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Ffii And nowe shalt thou trie it, that fortune most vsually fauoures the venterous.
1589 T. Nashe Anat. Absurditie sig. Biiii The acts of the ventrous, and the praise of the vertuous.
c. Of things.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > daring > [adjective]
keenc897
dearOE
bolda1000
hardyc1225
yepec1275
crousea1400
jeopardousa1513
audacious1550
facing1564
venturous1565
daring1582
daring-hardy1597
audaculous1603
dareful1614
adventuresome1628
outdacious1742
risky1826
plucky1835
plucked1846
racy1901
have-a-go1953
philobatic1955
Boy's Own1967
the mind > emotion > courage > daring > venturousness > [adjective] > specifically of things
venturous1565
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Abies audax, a venterous shippe.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 272 But (sacred Pilot) thou canst safely steere My vent'rous Pinnasse to her wished Peere.
1636 E. Reynolds Shieldes of Earth 41 Remember a Shield is a venturous weapon, a kind of suretie, which..receives the injuries which were intended to another.
1676 T. Shadwell Virtuoso i. 17 Those venturous Blossoms, whose over-hasty obedience to the early Spring does anticipate the proper Season.
1705 Watts in Sotheby's Sale Cat. 30 July (1902) 49 Accept of this first labor of the press, this ventrous Essay of Poesie in so Nice and censorious an Age.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 10 He..drives his vent'rous plow-share to the steep.
1804 C. Smith Conversations I. 151 The first bud whose venturous head The Winter's lingering tempest braves.
1862 C. S. Calverley Verses & Transl. (ed. 2) 28 He who erst with venturous thumb Drew from its pie-y lair the solitary plum.
2.
a. Of the nature of a venture; marked or characterized by, attended with, involving, hazard or risk; hazardous, risky.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [adjective] > full of risk
adventurousa1375
jeopardous1451
jeopardious?1504
hazardous1549
venturous1570
hazardly1575
chanceful1591
unsafe1597
venturable1597
hazard1601
desperatea1616
hazardable1618
hazardful1626
discriminous1658
venturesome1661
precarious1727
riskful1793
risky1813
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 114/1 Desperation,..which is wont in ventrous affaires to do much.
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iii. 75 It is venturous to set ones fortune vpon the brunt of one sole battell.
1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 22 The meer venturous and inconsiderate determining of Youths to the Profession of Learning.
1709 M. Prior Carmen Seculare (new ed.) in Poems Several Occasions 142 Bloody Wreaths in vent'rous Battels won.
1783 G. Crabbe Village i. 9 The tost vessel..Which to their coast directs its vent'rous way.
1840 F. D. Bennett Narr. Whaling Voy. II. 186 Now but few seas are entirely free from the visits of ships occupied in this venturous service.
1862 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 23 277 Twenty years ago the manufacture and sale of artificial manures partook more of the character of a venturous speculation.
b. Marked by, full of, adventures.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [adjective] > eventful
eventfula1616
great-bellied1647
crowded1791
venturous1813
eventive1843
chanceful1849
fateful1886
incidented1898
1813 W. Scott Rokeby iii. 103 And well his venturous life had proved The lessons that his childhood loved.
3.
a. Arising from, indicative of, a readiness to encounter hazard or risk; bold, daring.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > bravery or boldness > [adjective]
dearOE
derfc1175
ketec1275
reighc1275
fadec1330
venturous1584
bravea1616
brave-hearted1873
bindaas1981
1584 G. Whetstone Mirour for Magestrates Epist. If their forfeats were wel knowen, I fere, thei do acts as ventrus.
1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 74v I thinke him such a one as dares Such ventrous parts to play.
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 51 Meane men, who would make it their Master-piece of Credite and Fauour, to giue Venturous Counsels.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Staff. 43 He was..Knighted by the King for his venturous Activity.
1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Moralists iii. i. 159 Bear with my venturous and bold Approach.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian ii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 55 There was something of romance in Jeanie's venturous resolution.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh viii. 336 I scarce marvel much You took it for a venturous piece of spite.
1877 W. C. Bryant Sella 21 Her clear, calm eye Was bright with venturous spirit.
b. Of opinions, etc.: Daringly bold or original; going further than the evidence or facts appear to warrant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > [adjective] > bold
venturous1608
1608 A. Willet Hexapla in Exodum 571 Contrarie then to this orthodoxall doctrine of the Fathers..are these ventrous and bold positions.
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 22 One sentence of a ventrous edge, utter'd in the height of zeal.
1681 R. Baxter Apol. Nonconformists Ministry 5 Men's uncertain and venturous reports.
1830 W. Taylor Hist. Surv. German Poetry I. 333 Lessing..was distinguished by the venturous originality of his opinions.
1837 J. H. Newman Lect. Prophetical Office Church 138 Nothing is gained to the intellect; rather, something is lost by this venturous claim.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1565