expletive
Plural: expletives
Noun
- profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
- "expletives were deleted"
- a word or phrase conveying no independent meaning but added to fill out a sentence or metrical line
- A profane, vulgar term, notably a curse or obscene oath.
- A word without meaning added to fill a syntactic position.
- A word that adds to the strength of a phrase without affecting its meaning (such as fuckin in "there's no fuckin way he's gonna get away with it").
- An obscene or otherwise offensive interjection (such as shit, fuck, or damn it).
Adj
- Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.
- Marked by expletives (phrase-fillers).
Examples
- If we don't take advantage of any [expletive] in any way, then it's our loss.
Origin / Etymology
From Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from Latin explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“fill out”), itself from ex (“out, completely”) + *pleō (“fill”).
Synonyms
curse, curse word, cuss, oath, swearing, swearword, bad word, expletory, intensifier, swear word
Scrabble Score: 21
expletive: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordexpletive: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
expletive: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary