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darnedest

darnedest

2 8.3
Very strange or surprising in a funny, unexpected way
  • adjective
  • /ˈdɑrnɪdɪst/
  • Informal
translation icon : increíble
  • Well, if this ain't the darnedest thing!
  • the darnedest thing
  • the darnedest thing happened

Examples

Synonyms

startling
vsdarnedest
103 5.0

Very surprising in a way that causes sudden shock

is usually amusing rather than causing sudden alarm
damnedest
vsdarnedest
  • NSFW
11 8.9

Very strange or surprising in a way that is hard to believe

is more often amusing rather than showing strong doubt
damndest
vsdarnedest
  • NSFW
2 8.8

Very strange or surprising in a way you do not expect

is often amusing rather than just neutral or plain
darndest
vsdarnedest
  • Informal
2 8.8

Very strange or surprising in an unusual way

is often amusing rather than neutral in tone
goddamndest
vsdarnedest
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Very surprising and impressive and said in a rude way

is typically amusing rather than intensely emotional or shocking

Antonyms

683 1.0

Normal and not special or unusual

1.2

Likely to happen or be true

Idioms

7.8

To try as hard as possible to do something

Compounds

darnedest effort
  • Informal
7.5

The hardest effort someone can give

How Surprising

astonishing
5 3.4
darnedest
  • Informal
2 8.3
remarkable
588 2.8
surprising
433 1.8
odd
798 1.0

Surface Forms

darnedest positive

Morphology

darnedest = darned (semi-transparent) = darn + ed + est

The step from 'darned' to 'darnedest' is a regular superlative formation with '-est'.

Etymology

Darnedest comes from the mild word darn, a softer form of damn that people once used to show surprise or strong feeling. Saying 'the darnedest thing' meant 'the most surprising' or 'strangest', so that is why today it describes something very surprising.