as in curse
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression
was reprimanded for teaching his little brother cusswords
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Recent Examples of cussword
This wasn't an in-the-moment cussword thrown down in the middle of a passionate, blow out fight.
—
Ashley Iaconetti, Cosmopolitan, 30 Aug. 2017
Ashley Iaconetti, Cosmopolitan, 30 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cussword
Noun
-
At the beginning of her music career, Jordan was (rightfully) hailed as a prodigy—a blessing and a curse.—
Grace Robins-Somerville,
Pitchfork,
30 Mar. 2026
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Meeting Rachel’s parents and getting that backstory leads her into discovering this family curse.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Speech-language pathologists work with people who have disorders involving speech, language and swallowing, sometimes from injuries, medical conditions or developmental delays.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
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Once each semester, Grit Matthias Phelps, a German language instructor at Cornell University, introduces her students to the raw feeling of typing without online assistance.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Kennedy could be heard hurling swears at the Swedish team.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
23 Feb. 2026
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And Boring would be that much closer to its 90,000-rider pinkie-swear.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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And, when the alarm wails hours before dawn, human cusses of angry protest join the chorus of budget appliances failing before their time.—
Virginia Konchan,
The New Yorker,
30 Sep. 2024
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My grandmother extended a ladder up into this tough old cuss of a tree and climbed up, at some risk, to pick the bulging fruit.—
Jim Meddleton,
The Christian Science Monitor,
1 May 2024
Noun
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Apart from the accents, one difference from the American original was the expletives.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Mar. 2026
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One friend uttered an expletive after taking a bite of the super-tasty, uber-tender steak, and soon after, the meat disappeared.—
Jess Fleming,
Twin Cities,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The witness then saw Trezvant walk back to the pavilion and picnic tables, approach Trumpp, yell a profanity and stab her, according to court documents.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
25 Mar. 2026
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Using obscene or abusive language Any use of profanity, insults or abusive language is prohibited under the FDCPA.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
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As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, the expression not hardly is considered a vulgarism.—
NR Editors,
National Review,
16 Apr. 2020
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The British cringed over new American accents, coinages and vulgarisms.—
Time,
Time,
11 June 2019
Noun
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Tensions rose, neighbors said, to the point that King was heard at times swearing at Kirsten Wells as well as others using vulgar epithets.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
26 Mar. 2026
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The person who shouted the epithet was John Davidson, an activist with Tourette syndrome, who removed himself from the room and later apologized, as did BAFTA and BBC, the show’s broadcaster, which failed to edit out the slur during the broadcast.—
G. Allen Johnson,
San Francisco Chronicle,
1 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cussword.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cussword. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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