swear words
Bleepable spoken content
Swear words are taboo or offensive terms used to express strong emotion—anger, frustration, surprise, or emphasis.
They typically involve sex, bodily functions, religion, or slurs: fuck, shit, damn, bastard.
What counts as a swear word varies by culture and era.
Children learn early which words are forbidden, which only increases their power.
Also called curse words, cuss words, or profanity.
- expletivesVulgar exclamations
- obscenitiesGrossly offensive language
- cussSpeak profanely
- profanityVulgar or obscene speech
- foul languageObscene or vulgar speech
locker room talk · blasphemy · dysphemism · maledictions · vulgarisms · imprecations · vulgarities · scatology · racial slurs · f-word · invective · bleep · coarse language · slur · filthy · anger · cursing · crude
- slangslang, jargon, lingo, argot, cant
- cursescurse, curses, hex, hexes, jinx
- coloring subjectsanimals, butterflies, cats, dinosaurs, dogs
- other languages Q&Atranslation, vocabulary, grammar, phrases, pronunciation
- dialectsregional dialect, local dialect, patois, vernaculars, vernacular
swear wordsformal language
Elevated, rule-governed expression
refined language · clean language · polite conversation · diplomatic language · euphemisms
words, swear, swearing, sworn, swore, swears, forswear, swearer, forswearing