damned
damned Lexical Profile
damned Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Detestable, annoying, or exasperating; used informally as an intensifier to express anger, frustration, or strong emphasis.
"He spent twenty minutes searching his desk for the damned keys before realizing they were in his coat pocket."
Condemned by God to suffer eternal punishment in hell; doomed to perdition.
"In the medieval morality play, the Faustian character realizes too late that his soul is irrevocably damned."
Destined to failure, ruin, or severe criticism; placed in an inescapable or no-win predicament.
"The committee members knew they were damned if they approved the budget cuts and damned if they rejected them."
• adverb
Extremely or very; used informally for strong emphasis.
"She worked damned hard to finish the research manuscript before the submission deadline."
• noun
People who are condemned to eternal punishment in hell, or who are doomed to wretchedness and ruin (usually preceded by 'the' and treated as plural).
"Dante's 'Inferno' vividly portrays the torments suffered by the damned across the nine circles of hell."
Word Nuance & Usage
When used as a noun meaning 'condemned souls', 'damned' is always preceded by the definite article 'the' and takes a plural verb. In informal attributive adjective and adverbial senses, the uninflected form 'damn' is frequently used interchangeably with 'damned'.
• Rhymes for damned
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the past participle of the verb 'damn', which entered Middle English via Old French 'damner' from Latin 'damnare' (to condemn, inflict loss upon), a derivative of 'damnum' meaning 'damage, loss, or penalty'.