dank

[ dangk ]

adjective

, dank·er, dank·est.

1. unpleasantly moist or humid; damp and, often, chilly:

   a dank cellar.

   Synonyms: soggy, sticky, muggy, clammy, wet

2. Slang. (of marijuana) excellent; high quality:

   There was plenty of booze and dank weed at the party.

3. Slang. (of an internet meme) passé or clichéd; out of touch; having missed the cultural Zeitgeist.

noun

1. Slang. high-quality marijuana:

   We were just chilling out and smoking dank together.

dank

/ dæŋk /

adjective

1. (esp of cellars, caves, etc) unpleasantly damp and chilly

Derived Forms

• ˈdankness, noun
• ˈdankly, adverb

Other Words From

• dankly adverb
• dankness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dank¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English probably from Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish dänka, Norwegian dynke “to moisten,” cognate with Old Norse dǫkk “water hole”

Word History and Origins

Origin of dank¹

C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish dank marshy spot

Example Sentences

Most often, though, it is like a cold, dank cellar…..

From BBC

For those who still don’t know what a dank meme is, let the explaining by this 142-year-old newspaper begin.

From Los Angeles Times

To someone living outside these dank walls, the changes might seem small.

From Los Angeles Times

Clustered in a dank, darkened corridor offstage, members of the chorus drew themselves up, preparing to burst into song.

From Los Angeles Times

He sits in a dank cell in England while he fights extradition to the U.S.

From Salon

Related Words

• chilly
• damp
• humid
• muggy
• steamy
• sticky
• wet

About This Word

What else does dank mean?

When not describing something as “moist” and “humid” like a basement, dank is a slang term describing something as “excellent,” especially marijuana.

Dank can also refer to memes that are played out or extremely weird.

Where did the term dank come from?

The adjective dank is evidenced in Middle English in the 1300s. Then, as now, dank describes places that are unpleasantly moist and humid, such as cellars and caves.

In the 1980s, dank emerged as slang for something “excellent.” Slang has a way of making negative words positive (e.g., bad, sick, ill, or wicked). In the 1990s, dank especially came to characterize high-quality marijuana, the usage perhaps additionally influenced by the fact that marijuana can be pungent and moist.

Dank meme came about in 2013 on internet message boards like 4chan and Reddit dedicated to making parodies of existing memes and mocking meme culture in general. The use of dank here is ironic, as so-called dank memes are so bad (or downright strange) that they’re somehow good.

How to use the term dank

Basements can be dank. So can bada**es and bud. Dank-a** is a fairly common intensified form.

Stocked up on some dank coffee while I was out in Seattle omg my mornings just got 10x better 😭

— ION (@ion_trapndub) September 12, 2018

OH boi They doing friday fortnite for un famous people you just need to qualify so u can compete with all the pros that's dank

— JackShorey (@Jackshorey) June 3, 2019

Dank is often specifically used to describe food as “very delicious” or a person as “sexy” and “awesome.”

Shit was so dank pic.twitter.com/RNDlLbExQZ

— StinkyPeeete (@StinkyPeeete) January 22, 2020

When it comes to marijuana, dank can both describe it and refer to the weed itself. And when it comes to memes, dank can both characterize a meme past its prime or one that is just so bizarre that it’s actually funny.

Reelaty #dankmemes pic.twitter.com/Qpwoq1AIEa

— Dank Meme Bot (@DankMemesBot420) January 22, 2020

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.