dank
Dark, damp and humid.
Adjective
- Dark, damp and humid.
- The dank cave was chilly and spooky.
- 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:
- Cheerless watches on the cold, dank ground. - 1835, Richard Chenevix Trench, The Story of Justin Martyr:
- Moist and sticky, (by extension) highly potent.
- That was dank bud.
- Great, awesome.
- Expounding right-wing views in a cool way; based.
- 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...
- 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...
Origin
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.
Forms
Derived
Noun Entry 2
- Moisture; humidity; water.
- The ravviſh danke of clumzie vvinter ramps / The fluent ſummers vaine: and drizling ſleete / Chilleth the vvan bleak cheek of the numd earth, / VVhilſt ſnarling guſts nibble the iuyceles leaues, / From the nak't...
- Yet oft they quit | The dank, and rising on siff pennons, tow'r | the mid aerial sky - 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by...
- Dankness; a dark, moist and usually unpleasant atmosphere.
- You ain't thinking of getting rid of the dank, are you, Moe? - 1995, Greg Daniels, Bart Sells His Soul (The Simpsons):
- Out of curiosity I follow him down into the dank of the basement. - 2002, Wendel Messer, The Sink: The Last Days of Driving, Wendel Messer, →ISBN:
- Now, though, there was a sound that seemed quite out of place there in the dank of the forest. It was the most beautiful, harmonious sound that Susie had ever heard. - 2006 July 4, Michele Baxter, The Chronicles of...
- Strong, high-quality cannabis.
- I got more growin' pains than Maggie / 'Cause homies nag me to take the dank out of the baggie - 1995, “I Got 5 on It”, in Operation Stackola, performed by Luniz:
- Smoking mids will get you about three times higher than shwag, and same for dank—it'll be about six times higher than smoking some mids. - 2015, Scott Jacques, Richard Wright, Code of the Suburb, page 9:
Noun historical
- A small silver coin formerly used in Persia.
Forms
Verb
- To moisten, dampen; used of mist, dew etc.
Origin
From Middle English danken, from the adjective (see above).