noun
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the act of damning or state of being damned
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a cause or instance of being damned
interjection
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of damnation
1250–1300; Middle English dam ( p ) nacioun < Old French damnation < Latin damnātiōn- (stem of damnātiō ), equivalent to damnāt ( us ) (past participle of damnāre; see damn, -ate 1) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Damnation is the act of damning, which is a lot like condemning. Damnation dooms people. In many religious traditions, when someone is damned, it means they are doomed to suffer horribly in hell forever. Damnation, therefore, is the action of sending someone to hell. However, this word can refer to other forms of being condemned. Being sentenced to prison is a type of damnation. Being disgraced in public is a type of damnation. Anything that dooms you is damnation of a sort. Often, damnation comes from our own actions.
Vocabulary lists containing damnation
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village
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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.
Ms. Gage, who teaches American history at Yale, presents the book as an attempt, timed for the semiquincentennial, to improve the contemporary “national historical dialogue, which tends to emphasize veneration or damnation over real understanding.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
RN was regarded as beyond the pale, so the centre-right faced hell and damnation on the few occasions it joined them in a tacit arrangement to keep out the left.
From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026
She was chasing records set by the popular fire-and-brimstone evangelist Billy Sunday; where he preached damnation, she preached salvation.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2025
It’s like a chemical cocktail of frustration, elation, inspiration, damnation — everything with an “-ation” on it.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 26, 2023
It was as if the Scripture were unfolding before his eyes: good and evil, redemption and damnation.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
