cuss word
Bleeped TV audio
A cuss word is a swear word or profanity—language considered vulgar or offensive: Don't use cuss words in front of your grandmother.
Cuss is a dialectal alteration of curse, and the terms are interchangeable, though cuss word sounds more folksy and American.
The phrase often appears in contexts involving children or polite company.
- expletiveProfane emotional utterance
- profanityVulgar or obscene speech
- obscenityIndecent word or act
- swearVow or use profanity
- heckMild frustrated exclamation
gosh · golly · foul language · locker room talk · shoot · jeepers · crikey · blasphemy · choice words · vulgarity · invective · hell · damn · bleep · slang · oath · taboo · outburst
emotional valence in speech
cuss wordblessing
Prayer seeking divine favor
term of endearment · compliment · praise · benediction · sweet nothing
word, curse, wording, wordy, discourse, cuss, cursory, cussing, cussed