darned

¹ American  

[dahrnd] / dɑrnd /

adjective

1. irritating; damned; confounded.

   Get that darned bicycle out of the driveway!

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adverb

1. very; extremely; remarkably.

   She's a darned good tennis player.

darned ² American  

[dahrnd] / dɑrnd /

adjective

1. (of a garment, especially a knitted one) mended by means of rows of stitches that cross each other.

   I can remember feeling embarrassed about having to wear darned socks to camp.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of darn.

darned British  

/ dɑːnd /

adverb

1. (intensifier)

   this darned car won't start

   a darned good shot

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adjective

1. another word for damned damned

Other Word Forms

• undarned adjective
• well-darned adjective

Etymology

Origin of darned¹

First recorded in 1800–10; euphemism for damned, perhaps by construing dern “dark, dreary” (now obsolete) as an intensifier in phrases such as dern and dreary, dern and doleful

Origin of darned²

First recorded in 1600–10 for the verb, and in 1620–30 for the adjective

Example Sentences

He’s won four Oscars and, more importantly, the ability to do whatever he darned well pleases.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2025

Yeah, I expect some hate mail for "Promethean," because it sounds so darned elitist and stupid all at once.

From Salon • Jan. 5, 2025

“It may be darned important that we have some ability to have those arms come here, rather than go somewhere else,” the State Department official concluded.

From Slate • Nov. 22, 2023

Shoot the darned puck, and stop pretending they’re the 1977 Montreal Canadiens, 1985 Edmonton Oilers or even the 2022 Colorado Avalanche.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 21, 2022

And after three weeks of keeping this secret in, I was darned well not going to crack over a stupid piece of penny candy.

From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick