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

Of course, they denied it; the program ran long because speakers were just so darned popular, people wouldn’t stop cheering and clapping, party officials said.

From Los Angeles Times

Nobody begrudges Watkins’ success because she still seems so darned untainted by it.

From Los Angeles Times

Sure it's discussed and analyzed but there's a perfunctory vibe about it that makes it seem as if it's just another of those "Trump says the darnedest stuff" things.

From Salon

“Oh you don’t like that bill, huh? That conservatives got together and said was a good bill? I’ll be darned. … What are you against?”

From Los Angeles Times

Of course many of Trump's fans are still flush enough to keep filling his campaign coffers and spending pretty darned freely, including on those $400 garish desecrations-of-the-flag sneakers.

From Salon