as in curse
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression
unleashed a slew of expletives upon losing the tennis match
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Recent Examples of expletive
Videos showed the angry group shouting expletives as Mayweather’s security attempted to get him into a black SUV and away from the scene.
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Paulina Dedaj, Fox News, 11 Dec. 2024
His irreverent sense of humor — delivered amid expletives and with a childlike grin that belies his 61 years — seems to have carried him through the relentless five years of work.
—Thomas Adamson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
After expressing a little more surprise as well as one expletive, the video ends with Andrew and Aleeah sharing the most heartfelt of hugs in stunned silence.
—Jason Fields, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024
In this role, expletives fly from his lips and steely glares dart from his eyes like shrapnel.
—Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 15 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for expletive 
Paulina Dedaj, Fox News, 11 Dec. 2024
His irreverent sense of humor — delivered amid expletives and with a childlike grin that belies his 61 years — seems to have carried him through the relentless five years of work.
—Thomas Adamson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
After expressing a little more surprise as well as one expletive, the video ends with Andrew and Aleeah sharing the most heartfelt of hugs in stunned silence.
—Jason Fields, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024
In this role, expletives fly from his lips and steely glares dart from his eyes like shrapnel.
—Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 15 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for expletive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expletive
Noun
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There has never been a busier time or more information available than right now, which is both a blessing and a curse.Patrick Connolly, Orlando Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2025
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The delivery app market — dominated by DoorDash, UberEats and Grubhub — seems to be a blessing and a curse for restaurant operators.Cindy Carcamo, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2024
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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Advanced natural language processing (NPL) and predictive analytics allow platforms to match campaigns with influencers whose content resonates with key voter segments without stepping into risky territory.Jeremy Barnett, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025
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After graduating from her language studies in 1948, Rosita traveled on a nun-chaperoned trip to London that was designed to improve her English.Luke Leitch, Vogue, 2 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Officially solidified as a white-hot team, Disney took notice (despite the profanity).Katcy Stephan, Variety, 20 Dec. 2024
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Context: Vargas and other supervisors have faced escalating threats and profanity from public commenters at board meetings, prompting them to consider changes to public meeting rules.Andrew Keatts, Axios, 20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Just last month, neo-Nazis marched in uniform throughout the streets of Ohio’s capital, shouting racial epithets.Derrick Johnson, The Hill, 3 Dec. 2024
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For example, if a butterfly like Papilio glaucus were transferred to a genus with a feminine name, the epithet glaucus (masculine form) would be adjusted to glauca to agree in gender with the new genus.The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 12 Dec. 2024
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 17 Jan. 2025.
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