as in curse
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression
unleashed a slew of expletives upon losing the tennis match
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of expletive
Speaking after Grisham, police watcher Carolina Rodriguez said a number of expletives and was also removed.
—
Cody Copeland, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Jan. 2025
This conversation contains expletives, and has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes, 27 Jan. 2025
When Valdivia declined to give him any money, the man allegedly muttered expletives before turning away.
—Landon Mion, Fox News, 26 Nov. 2024
Peppiatt’s Irish-language film, riddled with expletives, hallucinogenics and baton twirling mischief, swept up at the British Independent Film Awards in December and on Wednesday, scored six BAFTA nods, including for best British film and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for expletive 
Cody Copeland, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Jan. 2025
This conversation contains expletives, and has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes, 27 Jan. 2025
When Valdivia declined to give him any money, the man allegedly muttered expletives before turning away.
—Landon Mion, Fox News, 26 Nov. 2024
Peppiatt’s Irish-language film, riddled with expletives, hallucinogenics and baton twirling mischief, swept up at the British Independent Film Awards in December and on Wednesday, scored six BAFTA nods, including for best British film and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for expletive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expletive
Noun
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Glamour is a gift and a curse as Venus and Neptune align.—
USA TODAY,
USA TODAY,
1 Feb. 2025
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Google / Ars Technica A cathartic curse eliminates the AI Overview in the results.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
31 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The station asked the band not to include the swears.—
Kris Holt,
Forbes,
2 Dec. 2024
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There’s a heavy focus on Asia’s first One&Only spa, featuring a green caviar body exfoliation and an Augustinus Bader facial celebs swear by.—
Katie Lockhart,
Robb Report,
11 Oct. 2024
Noun
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The Academy didn’t seem to mind, awarding the film 13 Oscar nods, the most for any non-English language film in history.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
8 Feb. 2025
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During its time of suspension, Thomas said the district along with the cities and law enforcement agencies, wrote letters in support of SROs to the legislature requesting to change language in the law to be able to bring back SROs into schools to ensure students and staff safety.—
Jacqueline Devine,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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One study, published in 2014 by other researchers in the field, found that curse words on Twitter, now known as X, appeared in 7.7 percent of posts, with profanity representing about 1 in every 10 words on the platform.—
Matt Richtel,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2025
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Animal Noises The original poster (OP) explained that the group of seven young diners was rowdy, using excessive profanity and making animal noises while ordering the most expensive entrees and desserts.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
8 Feb. 2025
Noun
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There have been racial epithets included in some of those.—
Ryan Morik,
Fox News,
7 Feb. 2025
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The rhetorical question was asked tongue-in-cheek, but the suggestion that this great showman could be given the epithet reserved for only the most one-dimensional players underlines his efficiency.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
The Athletic,
19 Jan. 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
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Cite this Entry
“Expletive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expletive. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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