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Synonyms

dank

American  
[dangk] / dæŋk /

adjective

danker, dankest

  1. unpleasantly moist or humid; damp and, often, chilly.

    a dank cellar.
    Synonyms:
    soggy, sticky, muggy, clammy, wet

  2. Slang. (of marijuana) excellent; high quality.

    There was plenty of booze and dank weed at the party.

  3. Slang. (of an internet meme) passé or clichéd; out of touch; having missed the cultural Zeitgeist.

noun

  1. Slang. high-quality marijuana.

    We were just chilling out and smoking dank together.
dank British  
/ dæŋk /

adjective

  1. (esp of cellars, caves, etc) unpleasantly damp and chilly

"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 else does dank mean? When not describing something as "moist" and "humid" like a basement, dank is a slang term describing something as "excellent," especially marijuana. Dank can also refer to memes that are played out or extremely weird.

Other Word Forms

  • dankly adverb
  • dankness noun

Etymology

Origin of dank

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English probably from Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish dänka, Norwegian dynke “to moisten,” cognate with Old Norse dǫkk “water hole”

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.

“God it’s cold and dank here! Wish I was still a pet in your family!”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

She adds: "It's dark, it's dank… it's perfect. And this just became another one of those opportunities for us to embrace and say, 'let's go'."

From BBC • Nov. 20, 2024

Clustered in a dank, darkened corridor offstage, members of the chorus drew themselves up, preparing to burst into song.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2024

He sits in a dank cell in England while he fights extradition to the U.S.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2024

As far as she knew, the wise old founder had never had to flee actors dressed as pirates by crawling through a dank, dark tunnel into the British Museum after hours.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

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.