damnation

American  

[dam-ney-shuhn] / dæmˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of damning or the state of being damned.

2. a cause or occasion of being damned.

3. Theology. condemnation to eternal punishment as a consequence of sin.

4. an oath expressing anger, disappointment, etc.

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interjection

1. (used in exclamatory phrases to express anger, disappointment, etc.)

damnation British  

/ dæmˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of damning or state of being damned

2. a cause or instance of being damned

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interjection

1. an exclamation of anger, disappointment, etc

damnation Cultural  

1. Eternal punishment in hell. (See mortal sin/venial sin.)

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Other Word Forms

• nondamnation noun
• predamnation noun
• self-damnation noun

Etymology

Origin of damnation

1250–1300; Middle English dam ( p ) nacioun < Old French damnation < Latin damnātiōn- (stem of damnātiō ), equivalent to damnāt ( us ) (past participle of damnāre; see damn, -ate ¹) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

Damnation is the act of damning, which is a lot like condemning. Damnation dooms people. In many religious traditions, when someone is damned, it means they are doomed to suffer horribly in hell forever. Damnation, therefore, is the action of sending someone to hell. However, this word can refer to other forms of being condemned. Being sentenced to prison is a type of damnation. Being disgraced in public is a type of damnation. Anything that dooms you is damnation of a sort. Often, damnation comes from our own actions.

Example Sentences

Ms. Gage, who teaches American history at Yale, presents the book as an attempt, timed for the semiquincentennial, to improve the contemporary “national historical dialogue, which tends to emphasize veneration or damnation over real understanding.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

RN was regarded as beyond the pale, so the centre-right faced hell and damnation on the few occasions it joined them in a tacit arrangement to keep out the left.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026

It’s like a chemical cocktail of frustration, elation, inspiration, damnation — everything with an “-ation” on it.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 26, 2023

Its armchair psychology makes for queasy viewing, a conflation of diagnosis and damnation.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2022

And he tried to find one equally hearty in its pleasures of damnation, but he was smoldering so low that he could not keep the tempo up.

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt