Word.ws English Dictionary

give a damn

give a damn verb: to be concerned about, have an interest in, to care (about something).

Verb

give a damn (third-person singular simple present gives a damn, present participle giving a damn, simple past gave a damn, past participle given a damn)

  1. (idiomatic, informal, sometimes, vulgar) To be concerned about, have an interest in, to care (about something).
    • He doesn't give a damn about your child's painting, he's just interested in the gold frame.
    • If she actually gave a damn what the law said, she wouldn't have stolen the car in the first place, now would she?
    Synonyms:
    becare, bother, care, concern oneself, heed, mind, reck, trouble oneself, worry

Examples of give a damn in a sentence

  • Long as I have my clams I don't give a damn about revolution1970, “Cherrystones”, in Outlaw, performed by Eugene McDaniels:
  • Nothing could erase the image I gained of my real father that day: a carefree, well-to-do man who didn't really give a damn about the hopes and dreams of his firstborn son.1980, Gerald Ford, “Boyhood—and Beyond”, in A Time to Heal, New York: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 47:
  • Unhappiness where's when I was young / And we didn't give a damn1994 November 15, “Ode to My Family”, in Dolores O'Riordan (lyrics), Dolores O'Riordan and Noel Hogan (music), No Need to Argue, performed...

Synonyms of give a damn

All synonyms of give a damn

Forms of give a damn

third-person singular presentgives a damn
present participlegiving a damn
pastgave a damn
past participlegiven a damn
alternative formgive a darn
alternative formcare a damn

Questions about give a damn

What does give a damn mean?
Give a damn means to be concerned about, have an interest in, to care (about something).
How do you use give a damn in a sentence?
Long as I have my clams I don't give a damn about revolution
What part of speech is give a damn?
Give a damn is a verb.
What is the past tense of give a damn?
The past tense of give a damn is gave a damn.

Words near give a damn in the dictionary

  1. give
  2. give 110%
  3. give a bad name
  4. give a bugger
  5. give a crap
  6. give a damn
  7. give a darn
  8. give a dog a bad name and hang him
  9. give a fig
  10. give a flying crap
  11. give a flying fuck

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: give a 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.

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