Meanings
- idiomaticUsed to add emphasis to "what" when beginning a question.
What in tarnation have you done with my wallet!?
3 more examples
2003. Judith Silverstein, Michael Lasky, "Online dating for dummies" What in Tarnation to Write I still remember the first girl I called up for a date at age 15.
Other euphemisms of this type (and there are many) include what in tarnation for what in damnation and what the Sam Hill for what the damn hell.
2005. Charles Harrington Elster, "What in the word?", Page 352007. Diane Stanley. "The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy" Page 141. “What in tarnation do you think you're doing?”
Synonyms: what the dickens, what on Earth, what the Devil, what the fuck
Synonyms & antonyms
interjectionUsed to add emphasis to "what" when beginning a question.
Cite this entry
what in tarnation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20in%20tarnation
“what in tarnation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20in%20tarnation. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “what in tarnation,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20in%20tarnation.
Source: what in tarnation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.