damning

/ˈdæmɪŋ/

damning is the present participle and gerund of damn.

Noun

damning (plural damnings)

A condemnation.
- This elicited damnings from pulpit and press, and insured a healthy run.2003, Richard Traubner, Operetta: A Theatrical History, page 338
An act of swearing with the word "damn".
- No man is believed a jot the more for all the asseverations, damnings, and swearings he makes.1693 (date written), D. F. [pseudonym; Daniel Defoe], An Essay upon Projects, London: […] R. R. for Tho[mas] Cockerill, […], published 1697, →OCLC

damn (third-person singular simple present damns, present participle damning, simple past and past participle damned)

(intransitive, transitive) To condemn.
- The official position is that anyone who does this will be damned for all eternity.
To condemn; to declare guilty; to doom; to adjudge to punishment.
- He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Synonyms:

convict, doom
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.
To condemn as unfit, harmful, invalid, immoral or illegal.
- You are not so arrant a critic as to damn them [the works of modern poets] […] without hearing.1708 November 8, Alexander Pope, letter to Henry Cromwell
Synonyms:

anathematize, demonize, excoriate, vilify
(slang, slightly vulgar) To curse; put a curse upon.
- That man stole my wallet. Damn him!
Synonyms:

comminate, execrate, imprecate
(archaic) To invoke damnation; to curse.
- […] while I inwardly damn.c. 1767-1774, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs. Bunbury
Synonyms:

ban, execrate, point the bone

damning (comparative more damning, superlative most damning)

Condemning; (often) sufficient to defeat a political or commercial rival.
- damning evidence was clear for all to see
- In terms of infrastructure, Frank says there has been better news in recent years, following a highly damning report prepared for the Friends of the Far North Line campaign group by consultant Tony Glazebrook [...].2021 November 3, Paul Stephen, “As far north as you can go... to Thurso”, in RAIL, number 943, page 48

From Middle English dampnynge; equivalent to damn + -ing.

What does damning mean?: Damning means condemning; (often) sufficient to defeat a political or commercial rival.
What is damning the present participle and gerund of?: Damning is the present participle and gerund of damn.
What part of speech is damning?: Damning can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce damning?: Damning is pronounced /ˈdæmɪŋ/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: damning (page history and authors); damn (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “damning.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/damning. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.