blankety-blank

[ blang-ki-tee-blangk ]

adjective

, Informal.

1. damned; darned (used to imply an omission of an unprintable or unspeakable word):

   The blankety-blank motor stalled again.

Word History and Origins

Origin of blankety-blank¹

First recorded 1885–90; after the practice of leaving blank spaces to represent profanity, as G— d— for God damn

Example Sentences

“And starting with a couple of sentences you can leap your way to those blankety-blank numbers or even to the Bonacci numbers?”

From Literature

He computed himself half to death with his giant computer—he was much, much more precise than we were with our blankety-blank 1.618 • • • —until he was absolutely positive that the formula would work forever.

From Literature

“And that blankety-blank unreasonable number keeps turning up?”

From Literature

“Then let’s go back to your notebook and enter the ‘blankety-blank’ number.

From Literature

What was that blankety-blank number all about, that one point six...?

From Literature

Related Words

• darned
• lousy