Use the adjective venturous when you need an old fashioned way to describe a daring person. Mountain climbers and competitive skiers are venturous, and a little girl on her brand new skateboard, zipping down the driveway, is also venturous. It's more common these days to use the related, original adjective adventurous. Both words come from the Old French root aventuros, which means "chance, accidental, or fortuitous."