as in curse
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression
unleashed a slew of expletives upon losing the tennis match
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of expletive
He was also heard muttering expletives down the stretch, visibly battling the heat and pressure.
—
Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Aug. 2025
Their female anime character companion removes clothing as a reward for positive engagement from users and responds with expletives if offended or rejected by users.
—Annie Chestnut Tutor, Boston Herald, 18 Aug. 2025
Some people don’t give a (expletive).
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 16 Aug. 2025
The 3-2 vote to remove Councilmember Iva Walton as mayor came during a nearly five-hour meeting that descended into chaos, with expletives and insults exchanged among council members, city staff and other attendees.
—Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for expletive
Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Aug. 2025
Their female anime character companion removes clothing as a reward for positive engagement from users and responds with expletives if offended or rejected by users.
—Annie Chestnut Tutor, Boston Herald, 18 Aug. 2025
Some people don’t give a (expletive).
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 16 Aug. 2025
The 3-2 vote to remove Councilmember Iva Walton as mayor came during a nearly five-hour meeting that descended into chaos, with expletives and insults exchanged among council members, city staff and other attendees.
—Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for expletive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expletive
Noun
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Now, the princess must gather enough strength from herself and her triplet brothers to undo a curse.—
Sydni Ellis,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
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As rocks and curses flew from the street, bullets spat from the middle window on the south side of the house.—
Neal Rubin,
Freep.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Taylor and Hinkle swear by bonnets, while Royal and others recommend tying longer styles into a loose bun or braid before wrapping.—
Larry Stansbury,
Essence,
4 Sep. 2025
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Patullo tore off his headset with a rare and celebratory swear.—
Brooks Kubena,
New York Times,
25 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The expansion will also include more language support, with plans to increase access to consulting and capital assistance in Spanish and Marshallese, according to an organization news release.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
11 Sep. 2025
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There is no time limit on how long such consultations could take, and experts say the language is flexible enough to allow each member to decide how far to go in responding to armed aggression against another.—
Matt Spetalnick,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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If one employee spots profanity or offensive language in an application, then it is sent to another employee, and possibly moved up the chain.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
10 Sep. 2025
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Ellis then claimed that Cardi cut her face with a fingernail and spat on her while yelling profanity and racial slurs at Ellis.—
Charna Flam,
People.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Then there was the woman who was Speaker of the House and would walk around talking to herself, screaming out epithets to imaginary people.—
Larry David,
New Yorker,
28 Aug. 2025
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Terrell represented a Black teenager who’d been expelled from a Los Angeles high school for punching a white referee during a football game after the referee allegedly had directed racial epithets at him.—
Peter Elkind,
ProPublica,
27 Aug. 2025
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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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
Cite this Entry
“Expletive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expletive. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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