tarnation

[ tahr-ney-shuhn ]

/ tɑrˈneɪ ʃən /

Older Use.

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interjection

damnation: Tarnation! Burned the fatback again.

noun

damnation; hell (used as a euphemism): Where in tarnation is that boy?

adverb

damned: What's making you so tarnation miserable?

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of tarnation

First recorded in 1775–85; blend of ’tarnal, dialectal pronunciation of eternal, and darnation (“hell”); see damnation

Words nearby tarnation

Tarlton, Tarmac, tarmacadam, tarn, tarnal, tarnation, Tarne, Tarn-et-Garonne, tarnish, tarnished plant bug, Tarnopol

How to use tarnation in a sentence

Who in 'tarnation let a gal like that go out in a boat alone, and without airy oar?
Ruth Fielding At College|Alice B. Emerson
I've got corns on them ere feet of mine that'd make a preacher swear, and them butes pinch like all tarnation.'
The Orpheus C. Kerr Papers. Series 1|Robert H. Newell
It'll take some tarnation good work to find out the truth about her, but I guess I c'n do it all right.
The Daughter of Anderson Crow|George Barr McCutcheon
He's ben through life and death, er tarnation nigh akin to it.
The Price of the Prairie|Margaret Hill McCarter

I can sail my lugger easy enough, but I should get into a tarnation mess if I tried to con your big ship.
Hunting the Skipper|George Manville Fenn

British Dictionary definitions for tarnation

tarnation

/ (tɑːˈneɪʃən) /

noun

a euphemism for damnation

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