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Meaning of "damn with faint praise" in the English dictionary

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PRONUNCIATION OF DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE

damn with faint praise play
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WHAT DOES DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Damning with faint praise

Damning with faint praise is an English idiom for words that effectively condemn by seeming to offer praise which is too moderate or marginal to be considered praise at all. In other words, this phrase identifies the act of expressing a compliment so feeble that it amounts to no compliment at all, or even implies a kind of condemnation.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE

dammit
damn
damn all
damn fool
damnability
damnable
damnableness
damnably
damnation
damnatory
damndest
damned
damnedest
damner
damnification
damnified
damnifies
damnify
damning
damningly

WORDS THAT END LIKE DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE

appraise
araise
bepraise
braise
dispraise
fraise
fundraise
hollandaise
mispraise
misraise
overpraise
pay raise
praise
raise
reappraise
reraise
self-praise
superpraise
underpraise
unpraise
upraise

Synonyms and antonyms of damn with faint praise in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «damn with faint praise» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE

Find out the translation of damn with faint praise to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of damn with faint praise from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «damn with faint praise» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

该死的用微弱的赞美
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

maldita con débiles elogios
570 millions of speakers

English

damn with faint praise
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

बेहोश प्रशंसा के साथ लानत
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

اللعنة مع الثناء خافت
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

черт со слабой похвалой
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

caramba com poucos elogios
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

অবাধ্য প্রশংসা সঙ্গে অভিশাপ
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

damner avec éloge faible
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Sial dengan pujian yang lemah
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

verdammt mit schwachen Lob
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

かすかな賞賛と畜生
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

희미한 칭찬 젠장
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Sengit karo pujian
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

nguyền rủa với lời khen ngợi mờ nhạt
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

மயக்கம் கொண்ட பாராட்டு
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

क्षीणु स्तुती सह उद्गार
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Lanet öfkeyle övgüler
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

accidenti con debole lode
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

cholera z lekkim uwielbienia
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

чорт зі слабкою похвалою
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

la naiba cu laudă slab
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

γαμώτο με εξασθενημένο έπαινο
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

verdoem met dowwe lof
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

fan med svag beröm
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

faen med svak ros
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of damn with faint praise

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE»

The term «damn with faint praise» is normally little used and occupies the 127.653 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Little used
40
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «damn with faint praise» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of damn with faint praise
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «damn with faint praise».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «damn with faint praise» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «damn with faint praise» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about damn with faint praise

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE»

Discover the use of damn with faint praise in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to damn with faint praise and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Wisdom Writers Around the World: Aphorisms Explained
Damn with faint praise is more than a backhanded compliment. It is praise at its very least or it is praise that is not very important. It is praise that is minimal, as in, “Her croquettes were fine.” Such a slight compliment can be mortifying to a ...
John W. Lorton, 2012
2
Cliches: Over 1500 Phrases Explored and Explained
Thus a piece of labour-saving electrical or electronic equipment might elicit the remark. damn with faint praise is a quotation cliche meaning to compliment with so little enthusiasm that the supposed compliment creates the opposite effect, ...
Betty Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth McLaren Kirkpatrick, 1999
3
The Cat's Pyjamas: The Penguin Book of Clichés
The concept of 'faint praise' has been around since at least 1633, when Phineas Fletcher wrote in The Purple Island, 'When needs he must, yet faintly then he praises', but the expression damn with faint praise comes from 1733, when ...
Julia Cresswell, 2007
4
Faint Praise and Civil Leer: The "decline" of ...
'"Damn with Faint Praise': Double Offbeat Demotion." Eidos 4, no. 1 (1987): 3-6. Barnett, Louise K. Swift's Poetic Worlds. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1981. Barnett, Richard L. "En guise d'avant-propos." L'Esprit Createur 27 (1987):  ...
Jon Thomas Rowland, 1994
5
Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms
She's bone idle, and does damn all around the house even when there's lots to be done. damn with faint praise compliment something/someone in such a grudging or ambiguous way that, by implication, one communicates one's dislike of ...
Gordon Jarvie, 2009
6
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Second Edition
The damn in this phrase is mainly an intensifier. damn with faint praise Compliment so feebly that it amounts to no compliment at all, or even implies condemnation. For example, The reviewer damned the singer with faint praise, admiring her ...
Christine Ammer, 2013
7
Cassell英语常用词组用法词典
to damn with faint praise ffli^MWIfiS ffiM i (The president damned him with faint praise by referring to him as the best professor of the university. • ffel:*I0r**« &£6< jf*t2 □ ) [jlt& ft fi £H$A Alexander Pope ifi Epistle to Dr Arhuthnot (1735) :"'Damn ...
Rosalind Fergusson, 2003
8
The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
This expression comes from the poet Alexander Pope's 'Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot' ( 1735): 'Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer'. 1994Canadian Defence Quarterly True there is the occasional  ...
Judith Siefring, 2004
9
Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms
... so unenthusiastically as to imply condemnation. 0 This expression comes from the poet Alexander Pope's 'Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot' (1735): 'Damn with faint praise , assent with civil leer, And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer'.
John Ayto, 2010
10
The Ladies' Repository
If our alphabet contained and we used a particular letter for each elementary sound in the language, the names of the letters would bo an unimportant matter. . B- D. A. Damn with faint Praise— Answer.— In the " Notes and Queries" for August I ...

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term damn with faint praise is used in the context of the following news items.
1
ARMORED SAINT Win Hands Down
I hate to damn with faint praise by saying that there are some decent tracks on the disc, but overall a lot of the album just sounds completely out ... «KNAC.com, Jul 15»
2
Women's World Cup: why the old myths about female sports won't stick
I hope this doesn't come across as patronising because I really don't mean it to be or to damn with faint praise, but being familiar with watching ... «The Guardian, Jul 15»
3
Okie in Exile — Let the River Run
To stop there, however, is to damn with faint praise. The Bible is a book of powerful language and powerful ideas. There are many reasons for ... «Pittsburg Morning Sun, Jun 15»
4
Jen Kirkman Gets Lost in the Laughter in her Netflix Comedy Special
To damn with faint praise, Kirkman could up her game by going through old videos of some great comedians who knew how to set up a gag ... «VideoInk, May 15»
5
Danko Jones: Fire Music
Otherwise – and this is not to damn with faint praise – with Fire Music it's another day at the Rock and Roll Office for one of the genre's true ... «PopMatters, Apr 15»
6
Jason Watkins: 'I could never see myself as Henry V'
It's an expression that seems to damn with faint praise. You could argue that it has outlived its primary function and that it's a hangover from the ... «The Stage, Apr 15»
7
Barnstar!: Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!
If that sounds like an attempt to damn with faint praise, keep in mind that this is the rare spot of contemporary bluegrass music that never ... «PopMatters, Apr 15»
8
Ariana Grande's Rodeo Debut Is Just Plain Weird
This is not an attempt to damn with faint praise. There was never a moment when Grande was onstage where you would think, "this sucks. «Houston Press, Mar 15»
9
As You Like It | Bell Shakespeare
It's the kind of production I cannot help but damn with faint praise – it was fine, but it wasn't more than fine. Perhaps the play's lack of magic can ... «Australian Stage Online, Feb 15»
10
Age has dimmed this 'Boys' Life'
Not to damn with faint praise, but Stehlin has orchestrated the play's frequent scene shifts with the logistical finesse of a field marshal. That may ... «Los Angeles Times, Feb 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Damn with faint praise [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/damn-with-faint-praise>. Apr 2024 ».
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