as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
a damning flaw in the program cost the company millions of dollars
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in cursing
to use profane or obscene language at or about
damned the car for once again breaking down
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in denouncing
to declare to be morally wrong or evil
a heresy that was quickly damned by a hastily called church council
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in sentencing
to impose a judicial punishment on
damned him to life in prison without the possibility of parole
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of damning
Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2026
But this stumble felt more personal, more damning.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2026
Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 29 Apr. 2026
His injury history with the Miami Dolphins (an ACL and Achilles tear) was a concern, but not damning within Philadelphia’s overall calculus.
—Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for damning
Adjective
Even more damning photos were published Thursday, which appear to show the pair kissing at a New York bar in early 2020.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2026
But this stumble felt more personal, more damning.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2026
Verb
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Monday that Thao and her three co-defendants failed to prove government authorities acted inappropriately or hid damning details about their star witness while building their sprawling corruption case in the first half of 2024.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 29 Apr. 2026
His injury history with the Miami Dolphins (an ACL and Achilles tear) was a concern, but not damning within Philadelphia’s overall calculus.
—Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for damning
Recent Examples of Synonyms for damning
Adjective
-
Stearns had nothing to do with any of them — and everything to do with the disastrous offseason that made the Mets the worst team in baseball for most of April.—
Bill Madden,
New York Daily News,
16 May 2026
-
Based on a script by Justin Varava that made the 2024 Black List, Turpentine follows a deadbeat son who hires friends to rob his own parents to pay off a bookie, with disastrous results.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
When Ahmed suggested that this was a bad idea, since Denise was the one who had been violent, Denise began cursing at him.—
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
The 66-year-old actress visited the NBC morning show to promote her new Lifetime movie, Love, Again, and ended up accidentally cursing twice live on air.—
Rachel McRady,
PEOPLE,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
After the vote, Commissioner Zach Lindstrom thanked At Chandee's supporters for sharing his story while denouncing the current presidential administration for locking him up.—
Jeff Wagner,
CBS News,
2 May 2026
-
In response to The Star’s inquiry, Sarnecki provided a statement denouncing 7-OH and kratom.—
Matthew Kelly
May 1,
Kansas City Star,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
The appeals court that ordered a trial court to reconsider Peters' sentence said the trial judge's consideration of her belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond what was relevant to sentencing her.—
Aysha Bagchi,
USA Today,
16 May 2026
-
Farber has held off on sentencing Weinstein until the remaining count is resolved.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
However, Cincinnati and Washington have been done in by unfortunate injuries and organizational disorder.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
16 May 2026
-
The unfortunate problem is that, like most other things, the system can be gamed—people could submit flawed content that lists people as authors who have never been involved.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Medicare fraud has become a hot political topic, with Republicans and Democrats each blaming the other party for the problem.—
Kerry Breen,
CBS News,
14 May 2026
-
The Newsom administration estimates that thousands of victims of the Los Angeles wildfires cannot afford to rebuild, blaming a lack of access to affordable loans and a gap between insurance payouts and the cost to build again.—
Taryn Luna,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
More than 2,100 artists including Brian Eno, Massive Attack and Peter Gabriel signed an open letter condemning Israel’s participation, while a separate open letter signed by over 1,000 figures, including Helen Mirren, Amy Schumer and Scooter Braun, supported Israel’s participation in the contest.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN Money,
15 May 2026
-
Shame on any educational institution that censors speech condemning it.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
Graham himself would also be out of luck if past Trump criticism were always politically fatal.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
19 May 2026
-
Moments after a security guard broke up the beating and the teenagers scattered, the 13-year-old came upon David and his girlfriend at the fountain plaza next to the theaters where the fatal stabbing took place.—
Julia Prodis Sulek,
Mercury News,
19 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Damning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/damning. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
