A mild curse word or exclamation expressing annoyance or frustration, used as a more polite alternative to stronger swear words.
Possibly from 'God rot it' contracted to 'drat,' or from 'derat' (to eliminate rats). The exact origin is uncertain but it emerged in the 1700s as a euphemism.
The beauty of 'drat' is that it's a fake curse word invented to let people express anger safely—it's what kids and old ladies say when they want to seem frustrated without being rude, which makes it secretly one of the most clever words in English.
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