1
: a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one : imprecation
People believe that there is a curse on the house.
2
: a profane or obscene oath or word
In an antechamber, his lieutenants suddenly heard the shattering of glass and angry curses.—
Sam Moses
Sam Moses3
: something that is cursed or accursed
"I … will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth."—Jeremiah 26:6 (King James Version)
Jeremiah 26:6 (King James Version)4
: evil or misfortune that comes as if in response to imprecation or as retribution
… intolerance is the greatest curse of every land …—Kenneth Roberts
Kenneth Roberts5
: a cause of great harm or misfortune : torment
His fame turned out to be a curse, not a blessing.
6
: menstruation
—used with the
cursed; cursing
1
: to use profanely insolent language against : blaspheme
cursing his god
2
a
: to call upon divine or supernatural power to send injury upon
He was cursed and fears he will die.
b
: to execrate in fervent and often profane terms
cursed by future generations unless we act now
3
: to bring great evil upon : afflict
a land cursed with famine
: to utter imprecations : swear
cursing loudly
Examples of curse in a Sentence
Noun
I heard him utter a curse before the microphone was shut off.
The witch pronounced a curse in some strange language.
People believe that someone put a curse on the house.
His fame turned out to be a curse, not a blessing.
Verb
He cursed himself for being so careless.
She cursed her bad luck.
In the book the evil witch curses the villagers.
Recent Examples on the Web
Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Maybe that’s more blessing than curse in our age of baldly allegorical horror movies.
—A.a. Dowd, Rolling Stone, 17 Apr. 2025
Barry Levitt, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2025
In the source material, Galactus is the lone survivor of a dead universe cursed with a bottomless hunger for the energy form living worlds.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for curse
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
After turning undead and hiding her bite wound, Mary easily gets permission to re-enter the building, and quickly seduces Stack, before murdering him and infecting him with the vampire curse.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Maybe that’s more blessing than curse in our age of baldly allegorical horror movies.
—A.a. Dowd, Rolling Stone, 17 Apr. 2025
Verb
Identical twins Hal and Bill (both Theo James) have been cursed by the mysterious monkey toy since childhood; their father tried to vanquish it to no avail.
—Barry Levitt, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2025
In the source material, Galactus is the lone survivor of a dead universe cursed with a bottomless hunger for the energy form living worlds.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for curse
Cite this Entry
“Curse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curse. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
curse
1 of 2 noun1
: a calling for harm or injury to come to someone
2
: a word or an expression used in cursing or swearing
3
: evil or misfortune that comes as if in answer to a curse
4
: a cause of great harm or evil
curse
2 of 2 verb
cursed; cursing
1
: to call upon divine power to send harm or evil upon
2
3
: to bring unhappiness or evil upon : afflict
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share