damn well

Idioms

Also, damned well. Certainly, without doubt; emphatically. For example, You damn well better improve your grades, or I know damned well that he's leaving me out. The damn in this phrase is mainly an intensifier.

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.

But I view where we are as five-alarm fire, and if you got a microphone in front of your mouth, you better damn well be talking into it.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026

“If you make a promise, you should keep it, and if you promise women you’re going to help them, then you damn well better do it,” Ms. Mace said.

From Washington Times • Oct. 3, 2023

He has been doing this for a lot longer than them, and he has played the game pretty damn well until now.

From Slate • Jun. 27, 2023

“Can it send a message to the team? It damn well should because we share in that transaction, all of us do,” McLellan said.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 1, 2022

“Well then. But I mean, the whole war could be damn well over soon, beg pardon, and my boys would have missed it. And these are Virginians, sir, and have a certain pride.”

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

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