Damned

How to spell damned

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce damned

What does damned mean?

1. adjectiveDetestable or annoying, or used loosely to add emphatic force to a statement.
2. verbPast tense of damn: condemned strongly, or declared to be a failure.

Damned in a sentence

• adjective

  The damned printer jammed for the third time before the meeting.

• verb

  The reviewers damned the restaurant for its slow service and tiny portions.

• adjective

  He was a damned fine accountant, according to every client he kept.

• verb

  The report damned the company's safety record in plain language.

Where does damned come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin verb damnare, which meant 'to condemn, to inflict loss or penalty upon', built on damnum, a noun meaning 'harm, loss, or a financial penalty'. It reached English through Old French damner in the 1200s, originally in the strict religious sense of being condemned by God to eternal punishment. Over the centuries the participle 'damned' loosened into a general curse word and then into a mild intensifier, as in 'damned good'. The silent letter at the centre of the spelling is the real trap: the 'n' of damn is never pronounced, yet it must still be written, a relic of that Latin damnare. The same damnum root survives in the everyday words 'damage' and 'indemnity', both of which preserve the idea of loss or harm.

How the word is built

• damn (from Latin damnare: to condemn, inflict loss)
• -ed (past tense / adjectival suffix)