damnedest

American

[dam-dist] / ˈdæm dɪst /

noun

best; utmost.

They did their damnedest to finish on time.

adjective

most amazing or extraordinary.

It was the damnedest coincidence, running into her in Paris after all these years of avoiding each other in Atlanta.

damnedest British

/ ˈdæmdɪst /

noun

informal utmost; best (esp in the phrases do or try one's damnedest )

"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

Etymology

Origin of damnedest

First recorded in 1820–30; damned + -est ¹

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.

See Examples For:

damnedest

No doubt the TikTok amateur detectives would’ve momentarily shifted from true crime to the Chaplin twins, trying their damnedest to debunk what only the sisters could truly understand.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

But really, Reijn is doing her damnedest to get a moral rise out of us.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2024

"It can't achieve strategic surprise but it will try its damnedest to achieve operational and tactical surprise. That will involve concealment, camouflage, deception, misinformation which they used quite successfully last autumn."

From Reuters ● Jun. 14, 2023

“We will do our damnedest but it’s hard to fight them all.”

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2022

Sometimes I walk the wall with Ida, who tries her damnedest to draw me into conversation, to no avail.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

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