Blasted

How to spell blasted

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce blasted

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does blasted mean?

1. verbPast tense of blast: blew up, fired explosively, or directed a loud burst of sound or air.
2. adjectiveUsed as a mild expletive to express annoyance, similar to 'damned'.
3. adjectiveWithered, scorched, or ruined as if struck by a destructive force.

Blasted in a sentence

• verb

  The demolition crew blasted the old chimney at dawn.

• adjective

  The blasted printer jammed again right before the meeting.

• adjective

  The drought left a field of blasted wheat across the valley.

• verb

  She blasted the radio so loudly that the neighbours complained.

• adjective

  He could not get the blasted key to turn in the lock.

• adjective

  A single blasted tree stood on the scorched hillside.

Where does blasted come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The root 'blast' comes from the Old English 'blaest', meaning a blowing or a sudden gust of wind, which is tied to the same Germanic family as 'blow' and the verb 'blaesan', to blow or puff. Over the centuries the sense widened from a rush of air to the noise of a trumpet, then to a violent burst, and finally to the modern idea of an explosion or a destructive charge. The form 'blasted' is simply the past tense and participle, and from the early 1600s it also took on a figurative life as a mild curse, describing crops or hopes that had been withered as if scorched by a foul wind. By the eighteenth century 'blasted' had softened into a polite expletive, a genteel way of saying 'damned' without the profanity. The spelling stays regular throughout: the single base 'blast' simply takes '-ed', so the only thing to remember is the plain, undoubled ending.

How the word is built

• blast (a strong gust, explosion, or burst)
• -ed (past-tense and adjective suffix)