dank en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈdɛ̃ŋk/ (Canada, US)
- /ˈdeɪ̯ŋk/ (Canada, US)
- (Southern-England) audio
- [ˈdɛ̃ŋk] (Canada, US)
- [ˈdeɪ̯ŋk] (Canada, US)
- [ˈdæŋk] without æ-raising
- /ˈdæŋk/ without æ-raising
Etymology
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.
Meanings
-
Dark, damp and humid.
Now that the fields are dank and ways are mire.
1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC:The dank cave was chilly and spooky.
It's a world away from the dank and uninviting St Pancras that British Rail wanted to tear down in the 1960s.
2022 November 30, Nick Brodrick, “Pride and innovation shine at St Pancras”, in RAIL, number 971, page 69:Who were the strugglers, what war did they wage, / Whose savage trample thus could pad the dank / Soil to a plash? [...]
1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section XXII:Cheerless watches on the cold, dank ground.
1835, Richard Chenevix Trench, The Story of Justin Martyr:
-
(figuratively, of marijuana) Moist and sticky, (by extension) highly potent.
That was dank bud.
- (Internet, ironic, often) Great, awesome.
-
Expounding right-wing views in a cool way; based.
One thing that always brings me joy at this time of year is to spot a really dank meme. Or seeing the number of plays on my Jordan Peterson podcast, or beholding one of my mutuals get traction on X with a thread on Cultural Marxism and Gender Ideology[…]
2025 May 2, Stephen Collins, “What to look for in Spring with Kemi Badenoch”, in The Guardian:His house organ Breitbart and a host of Trump-right websites and news outlets sang praises to his dank genius.
2018, January 5, Rick Wilson, “Bannon Banished for Telling Truths About Trump as MAGA Monsters Turn on Each Other”, in The Daily Beast:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| dankest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| danker | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
danksome · dankness · dank meme · dank chronic · dankly · dankish · danken
Translations (31)
nl klam (dark, damp and humid) · ga múisciúil (dark, damp and humid) · tr rutubetli (dark, damp and humid) · es húmedo (dark, damp and humid) · sv fuktig (dark, damp and humid) · pl zawilgocony (dark, damp and humid) · mk вла́жен (dark, damp and humid) · de dampfig (dark, damp and humid) · cs vlhký (dark, damp and humid) · lv drēgns (dark, damp and humid) · ru промо́зглый (dark, damp and humid) · de nasskalt (dark, damp and humid) · fr fort (highly potent) · tr ıslak (dark, damp and humid) · eo humida (dark, damp and humid) · cy llaith (dark, damp and humid) · nl straf (highly potent) · pdt feicht (dark, damp and humid) · bg влажен (dark, damp and humid) · cs lezavý (dark, damp and humid) · de feucht (dark, damp and humid) · mi hūnounou (dark, damp and humid) · pl wilgotny (dark, damp and humid) · bg усоен (dark, damp and humid) · fi kostea (dark, damp and humid) · tr yaş (dark, damp and humid) · eo malseka (dark, damp and humid) · pl mocny (highly potent) · ca humit (dark, damp and humid) · nl vochtig (dark, damp and humid) · ko 축축한 (dark, damp and humid)