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dern

[durn]
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adjective, adverb, verb (used with object) Dialect.
  1. darn2.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for derned

Historical Examples

  • Look at that feller shut his eyes and stretch his derned old neck!

    The Duke Of Chimney Butte

    G. W. Ogden

  • But that derned Welshman got around her and she growed cold.

  • Well anyway, this derned story is going about, and something's got to be done to stop it.

    Simon

    J. Storer Clouston

  • I've met some derned good liars in my time, but you beat the lot.

    Simon

    J. Storer Clouston

  • I reckon that some of us are too derned proud—But we ain't cold.

    The Crisis, Complete

    Winston Churchill

Word Origin and History for derned

dern

adj.

"secret, hidden" (obsolete), from Old English derne "concealed, secret, dark," from West Germanic *darnjaz (cf. Old Saxon derni, Old Frisian dern, Old High German tarni "secret, concealed").

As a verb, "to conceal," from Old English diernan "to hide." Cf. Old High German tarnjan "to conceal, hide;" German Tarnkappe "cloak of invisibility." Related to dark (adj.). French ternir "to tarnish, to dull" is a Germanic loan-word.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper