four-letter words

noun

plural of four-letter word
as in curses
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression clapped her hands over the toddler's ears so he wouldn't hear the four-letter word

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for four-letter words
  1. curses
  2. languages
  3. swears
Noun
  • Directed by Sébastien Vanicek (2023’s Infested), the follow-up to 2023 reboot Evil Dead Rise stars Wednesday‘s Hunter Doohan in a story about curses lingering too long in a family and the undead that haunts them.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 7 July 2026
  • Morgan and her Judgment Day cronies tried to bribe Danhausen to put curses on their opponents.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 28 June 2026
Definition of curses
Noun
  • Handwritten messages in Thai and other languages, including Korean, were left alongside white flowers, expressing condolences to the victims.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 July 2026
  • Despite heat waves, severe weather, massive crowds and potentially unfamiliar cultures or languages, Fan Fest’s volunteers and ConnectKC26’s bus drivers are continuously praised across related posts.
    — Sophie Lindberg, Kansas City Star, 14 July 2026
Definition of languages
Noun
  • The event finds more than 20,000 people participating in an annual bar crawl throughout the city while dressed in their best holiday attire, tackiest Santa Claus costumes, and ugliest Christmas swears.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Kennedy could be heard hurling swears at the Swedish team.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 23 Feb. 2026
Definition of swears
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.

Browse Nearby Words

four-letter word
four-letter words
four-poster
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Four-letter words.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/four-letter%20words. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All