darned

¹

[ dahrnd ]

adjective

1. irritating; damned; confounded:

   Get that darned bicycle out of the driveway!

adverb

1. very; extremely; remarkably:

   She's a darned good tennis player.

darned

²

[ dahrnd ]

adjective

1. (of a garment, especially a knitted one) mended by means of rows of stitches that cross each other:

   I can remember feeling embarrassed about having to wear darned socks to camp.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of darn ².

darned

/ dɑːnd /

adverb

1. (intensifier)

   this darned car won't start

   a darned good shot

adjective

1. another word for damned damned

Other Words From

• un·darned adjective
• well-darned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of darned¹

First recorded in 1800–10; euphemism for damned, perhaps by construing dern “dark, dreary” (now obsolete) as an intensifier in phrases such as dern and dreary, dern and doleful

Origin of darned²

First recorded in 1600–10 for the verb, and in 1620–30 for the adjective

Example Sentences

Sometimes, fried food is the best food, New Year resolutions be darned.

From Washington Post

Actually, the scene was so darned enthusiastic that it began to look a little like a raucous Walmart employee rally.

From The Daily Beast

What did those darned Muslims give us other than grammar and algebra?

From The Daily Beast

It can sometimes be stressful for viewers to watch Cyrus, because he always seems so darned stressed.

From The Daily Beast

It does not therefore follow that the public would have enthusiastically embraced cap and trade if not for those darned skeptics.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, I will call you “darned smart and really good-looking.”

From The Daily Beast

And darned if each meteor didn't strike dead center of each plant network.

From Project Gutenberg

A female writer says, "Nothing looks worse on a lady than darned stockings."

From Project Gutenberg

Allow us to observe that stockings which need darning look much worse than darned ones—Darned if they don't!

From Project Gutenberg

"That's another o' them darned new-fangled machines that folks keep inventin'," remarked the man.

From Project Gutenberg

Cash and I tried to sleep on kitchen roof but the darned mosquitoes fed up on us and then played heavenly choir all night.

From Project Gutenberg