Expletive

Quick meaning: Expletive is an adjective meaning Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.

Meaning

Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.

More Meanings

1. Marked by expletives (phrase-fillers).
2. A profane, vulgar term, notably a curse or obscene oath.
3. (linguistics) A word without meaning added to fill a syntactic position.
4. An obscene or otherwise offensive interjection (such as shit, fuck, or damn it).
5. (linguistics) 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").

Example Sentences

If we don't take advantage of any [expletive] in any way, then it's our loss.

No one entered more fully than Shakespeare into the character of this species of poetry, which admits of no expletive imagery, no merely ornamental line.

deprecating being taken for ſerious, or to be underſtood that he meaneth any thing by them; but only that he uſeth them as expletive phraſes ... to plump his ſpeech, and fill up ſentences.

Word Forms

• expletives

Synonyms for expletive

Depending on context, synonyms include expletory, oath, intensifier, curse, cuss, swearword.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include oath, swearing, swearword, cuss, curse, infixation.

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