dank
/ˈdeɪ̯ŋk/adjective, noun
dank is spelled D-A-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, dank means “Dark, damp and humid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dank?
| Letters | 4: D-A-N-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,629th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 dank?
Dank appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th 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 dank?
- /ˈdæŋk/
- [ˈdæŋk]
- US /ˈdeɪ̯ŋk/
Dank has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dank.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dank?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dank from its last stressed vowel (/eɪŋk/):
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 dank
- danker comparative
- dankest superlative
- danks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- danking participle, present
- danked participle, past
- danek
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dank mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Dark, damp and humid.
The dank cave was chilly and spooky.
- 2
Moist and sticky, (by extension) highly potent.
That was dank bud.
- 3
Great, awesome.
- 4
Expounding right-wing views in a cool way; based.
noun
- 1
Moisture; humidity; water.
- 2
Dankness; a dark, moist and usually unpleasant atmosphere.
- 3
slangStrong, high-quality cannabis.
- 4
A small silver coin formerly used in Persia.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo moisten, dampen; used of mist, dew etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dank in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 dank come from?
From Middle English danke (“wet, damp; dampness, moisture”), probably from North Germanic, related to Swedish dank (“marshy spot”), Icelandic dökk (“pool”), Old Norse dǫkk (“pit, depression”), from Proto-Germanic *dankwaz (“dark”). However, some trace it to a West Germanic source such as Dutch damp (“vapor”) or Middle High German damph, both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dampaz (“smoke, steam, vapor”). Modern slang senses derived from the drug sense; compare based (“awesome, especially in a right-wing context online”) from drug terminology freebased.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).