1
as in nicknames
a descriptive or familiar name given instead of or in addition to the one belonging to an individual
King Richard I of England was given the very laudatory epithet "the Lion-Hearted"
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in insults
an act or expression showing scorn and usually intended to hurt another's feelings
the school has a strict ban against the use of offensive epithets
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of epithets
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
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
At one point, tempers flared in the drive-thru lane as a driver in a pickup truck gave up and somehow managed to pull off a U-turn, precipitating a hangry window-down exchange of epithets with the car behind him.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025
Larry David, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
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
At one point, tempers flared in the drive-thru lane as a driver in a pickup truck gave up and somehow managed to pull off a U-turn, precipitating a hangry window-down exchange of epithets with the car behind him.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for epithets
Noun
-
Armani’s mother Maria played a great role in his life and influenced his sense of fashion to the point that his two yachts bore her nicknames, Mariu and Maìn.—
Luisa Zargani,
Footwear News,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Laurel, Conrad, Belly, and Jeremiah all call each other by nicknames.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Perhaps Florence might have learned to cast aside the envy that seemed to be suppressed only by her outbursts and insults, her ever-increasing appetite, a collection of maladies that seemed to anger and horrify her father even further.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
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When big gatherings of police and federal agents suddenly show up in residential areas, crowds often meet them with cell phone cameras, righteous indignation and insults.—
Daniel C. Vock,
Chicago Tribune,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Many younger Red Sox weren’t in the majors, or even drafted in ‘19, the last time the league allowed players to replace their surnames with nicknames on the back of their Players’ Weekend jerseys.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
16 Aug. 2025
-
Some of the searches involved criminal cases in the New York City area and other jurisdictions and cases involving people with Russian and Eastern European surnames, according to The New York Times.—
Jenna Sundel
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Lily, Loki, Max, Star, Oscar, Zelda, Pepper, Callie, Gus, Kitty, Olive, Olivia, Jack and Chloe, are among the other popular monikers.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Aug. 2025
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Which of the following monikers did Benjamin Franklin NOT employ?—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
11 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Epithets.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/epithets. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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