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Synonyms

drat

American  
[drat] / dræt /

verb (used with object)

dratted, dratting

  1. to damn; confound.

    Drat your interference.

interjection

  1. (used to express mild disgust, disappointment, or the like).

    Drat, there goes another button off my shirt.
drat British  
/ dræt /

interjection

  1. slang an exclamation of annoyance (also in the phrases drat it! drat you! etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does drat mean? Drat is something you say to express mild frustration, disappointment, or disgust. Drat is most commonly used as an interjection (something exclaimed to express some kind of emotion). Less commonly, it is used as a verb with a meaning similar to damn, for which it is considered a euphemism (a milder version). Example: Drat, I lost my phone!

Etymology

Origin of drat

First recorded in 1805–15; alteration of (o)d rot God rot (i.e., may God rot him, her, it)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

OK — so we’d at least get up to that bend in the trail to take a peek … and … drat!

From Seattle Times • Oct. 11, 2019

But as might be expected in the cat-and-mouse game that is the run-up to the drat, he also said the team could well stay use its first-round pick at number 21.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 1, 2019

But Carroll resisted that idea, repeating what Schneider had said — that this was simply a deep defensive back drat.

From Seattle Times • May 4, 2017

Arnold said, or some variant of drat, and threw his shoes and clubs in the suddenly quiet locker room.

From Golf Digest • Mar. 23, 2010

“I don’t want to hear it any more. You sing it very well, but I drat want it again. Uncurl, you idiot, and tell me where you learned to sing.”

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.