damned

1 of 3

adjective

ˈdam(d) 

damneder ˈdam-dər  ; damnedest or damndest ˈdam-dəst 

1

: damnable

this damned smog

2

: complete, utter

—often used as an intensive

a damned shame

3

: extraordinary

—used in the superlative

the damnedest contraption you ever saw

damned

2 of 3

adverb

: extremely, very

a damned good job

damned

3 of 3

past tense and past participle of damn entry 1

Synonyms of damned

Adjective

• sheer
• utter
• damn
• unconditional
• simple
• complete
• absolute
• pure
• total
• definite
• very
• outright
• perfect
• real

Adverb

• damn
• extremely
• terribly
• very
• incredibly
• too
• so
• badly
• highly
• really
• desperately
• severely
• seriously
• jolly
• far

Examples of damned in a Sentence

Adjective

only a damned fool would say such a thing

Adverb

it's a damned fine day

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Perched atop Russian Hill, Crocker’s penthouse was a budget-be-damned Gesamtkunstwerk that allowed Frank to go absolutely wild with materials. — Jill Singer, Curbed, 23 Sep. 2026

Devils and damned souls shall continually be rising through the registers. — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

Adverb

The Rolling Stones, down to two original members, have released their 25th studio album, Foreign Tongues, and most of it is pretty damned good. — David Harris, SPIN, 6 July 2026

But Cleveland State was, in fact, a damned good basketball team, as were most of the double-digit seed winners in NCAA Tournament history. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 18 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

circa 1669, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing damned

• be damned
• damned if
• I'll be damned
• the damned
• whatever one damn/damned well pleases
• (you're) damned if you do and damned if you don't

Rhymes for damned

• programmed
• crammed
• dammed
• jammed
• rammed
• slammed
• diagrammed
• monogrammed
• preprogrammed
• reprogrammed