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PlainSpell

damp

/ˈdeə̯mp/adjective, noun, verb

damp is spelled D-A-M-P: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, damp means “In a state between dry and wet; moderately wet; moist” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in damp?

Letters4: D-A-M-P
Syllables1
In writing4.2 times per million words; the 12,578th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is damp?

Damp appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th 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 damp?

  • /ˈdæmp/
  • [ˈdæmp]
  • US /ˈdeə̯mp/

Damp has one syllable.

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

What rhymes with damp?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as damp from its last stressed vowel (/eəmp/):

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 damp

  • damper comparative
  • dampest superlative
  • damps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • damping participle, present
  • damped participle, past

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

What does damp mean?

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

adjective

  1. 1

    In a state between dry and wet; moderately wet; moist.

    25 January 2017, Leena Camadoo writing in The Guardian, Dominican banana producers at sharp end of climate change Once the farms have been drained and the dead plants have been cut down and cleared, farmers then have to be alert for signs o

  2. 2

    Despondent; dispirited, downcast.

    27 July 2016, Jane O’Faherty in The Irish Independent, Monarchs and prison officers win big on second race day Though Travis's 'Why does it always Rain on Me' boomed around the stands, there were few damp spirits in Galway on day two of the

  3. 3

    Permitting the possession of alcoholic beverages, but not their sale.

noun

  1. 1

    Moisture; humidity; dampness.

  2. 2

    archaicFog; fogginess; vapor.

  3. 3

    archaicDejection or depression; something that spoils a positive emotion (such as enjoyment, satisfaction, expectation or courage) or a desired activity.

  4. 4

    archaicA gaseous product, formed in coal mines, old wells, pits, etc.

verb

  1. 1

    To suppress vibrations (mechanical) or oscillations (electrical) by converting energy to heat (or some other form of energy).

  2. 2

    archaicTo dampen; to make moderately wet.

    to damp cloth

  3. 3

    archaicTo put out, as fire; to weaken, restrain, or make dull.

noun

as DAMP
  1. 1

    Initialism of damage-associated molecular pattern.

  2. 2

    Acronym of deficits in attention, motor control and perception.

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

Damp in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchhumide, moite, mouillé (Being in a state between dry and wet), humidité (moisture), grisou (gaseous product), amortir (To suppress vibrations or oscillations)
Germanfeucht (Being in a state between dry and wet), Feuchtigkeit (moisture), Dunst (gaseous product), ersticken, dämpfen (To put out, as fire)
Portugueseúmido, húmido (Being in a state between dry and wet), umidade, humidade (moisture), amortecer (To suppress vibrations or oscillations)
Spanishhumedad (moisture), amortiguar (To suppress vibrations or oscillations)

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 damp come from?

From Middle English dampen (“to stifle; suffocate”), from Old English damp, from Proto-Germanic *dampaz. Akin to Low German damp, Dutch damp, and German Dampf (“vapor, steam, fog”), Icelandic dampi, Swedish damm (“dust”), and to German dampf imperative of dimpfen (“to smoke”). Also Middle English dampen (“to extinguish, choke, suffocate”).

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

What to look up after damp