bad word
Censored TV audio
A bad word is any word considered inappropriate, offensive, or taboo—typically profanity, slurs, or vulgar terms.
The phrase appears most often in contexts involving children: Don't say bad words or That's a bad word.
What counts as a bad word varies by culture, context, and who's listening.
- expletiveProfane emotional utterance
- profanityVulgar or obscene speech
- curseInvoked harm through words
- blasphemyIrreverence toward the sacred
- pardon my FrenchIdiom excusing crude language
insult · fighting words · trash talk · pejorative · epithet · sacrilege · shit · foul language · locker room talk · taboo · offensive · vulgar · damn · oath · disparagement · choice words · inappropriate · naughty
- cursescurse, curses, hex, hexes, jinx
- reputationreputation, reputable, repute, disreputable, good name
moral/evaluative connotation
bad wordgood word
Favorable mention or endorsement
blessing · compliment · term of endearment · affirmation · sweet nothing
bad, word, badly, worst, worse, badness, misbehavior, baddest, misdemeanor