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PlainSpell

damn

UK /ˈdæm/verb, adjective, adverb, interjection, noun

damn is spelled D-A-M-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 123 times per million words in written English, the 851st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “dam vs damn” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, damn means “To condemn” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in damn?

Letters4: D-A-M-N
Syllables1
In writing123 times per million words; the 851st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is damn?

Damn appears 123 times per million words in written English, the 851st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce damn?

  • UK /ˈdæm/
  • UK [ˈdæm] ~ [ˈdam]
  • British /ˈdam/

Damn has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-damn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with damn

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

dam vs damn590 G

Sounds like: dam (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with damn?

10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as damn from its last stressed vowel (/æm/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: mand.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of damn

  • damns present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • damning participle, present
  • damned participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does damn mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To condemn.

    The official position is that anyone who does this will be damned for all eternity.

  2. 2

    To condemn; to declare guilty; to doom; to adjudge to punishment.

  3. 3

    To put out of favor; to ruin; to label negatively.

    I’m afraid that if I speak out on this, I’ll be damned as a troublemaker.

  4. 4

    To condemn as unfit, harmful, invalid, immoral or illegal.

  5. 5

    slangTo curse; put a curse upon.

    That man stole my wallet. Damn him!

  6. 6

    archaicTo invoke damnation; to curse.

adjective

  1. 1

    slangGeneric intensifier. Fucking; bloody.

    Shut the damn door!

adverb

  1. 1

    slangVery; extremely.

    That car was going damn fast!

interjection

  1. 1

    slangvulgarUsed to express anger, irritation, disappointment, annoyance, contempt or surprise, etc. See also dammit.

noun

  1. 1

    slangThe word "damn" employed as a curse.

    He said a few damns and left.

  2. 2

    slangA small, negligible quantity, being of little value; a whit or jot.

    The new hires aren't worth a damn.

  3. 3

    slangThe smallest amount of concern or consideration.

    I don't give a damn.

noun

as DAMN
  1. 1

    Abbreviation of diaminomaleonitrile.

  2. 2

    Acronym of distributed architecture for mobile navigation.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate damn?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of damn: DYC.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Damn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcondamner, damner (theology: to condemn), réprouver (to condemn as unfit, harmful, invalid, immoral…), foutu, putain (generic intensifier), mince (non-vulgar expression of contempt etc)
Germanverdammen, verfluchen (theology: to condemn), verteufeln (to condemn as unfit, harmful, invalid, immoral…), verdammt (generic intensifier), ächten, verschreien (to put out of favor; to ruin; to label…)
Portugueseamaldiçoar, danar, condenar (theology: to condemn), maldito, merda de, porra de (generic intensifier)
Spanishmaldecir, condenar (theology: to condemn), reprobar, anatematizar (to condemn as unfit, harmful, invalid, immoral…), maldito, puto (generic intensifier)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does damn come from?

From Middle English dampnen, from Old French damner, from Latin damnāre (“to condemn, inflict loss upon”), from damnum (“loss”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after damn