expletive

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“
This expletive was a sigh of sheer surprise.

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Definitions (12)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun An exclamation or oath, especially one that is profane, vulgar, or obscene.
  2. noun A word or phrase that does not contribute any meaning but is added only to fill out a sentence or a metrical line.
  3. noun Linguistics A word or other grammatical element that has no meaning but is needed to fill a syntactic position, such as the words it and there in the sentences It's raining and There are many books on the table.
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Examples (50)

  • Nordis shouted something, but his expletive was swallowed by another shriek from Melentha. —  Triplet
  • Did you Ramses cut him off with a curt Arabic expletive, and neither of them spoke again until they reached the river. —  52316_ApeWhoGuardsTheBalance
  • "Hell." He muttered the expletive, then lifted his head to look at her. —  Garwood, Julie - Saving Grace
  • Radek interrupted with an explosive-and inventive-Czech expletive (it was amazing what you learned in Pegasus). —  Wraithbait
  • The criminal complaint quotes Blagojevich speaking about the Senate seat as "a (expletive) valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing." —  Rockford Register Star Home RSS
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This word has been looked up 270 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

snore ·  patois ·  twang ·  guffaw ·  grumble ·  obscenity ·  pleonasm ·  bellow ·  drawl ·  whimper ·  yowl ·  imprecation
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Late Latin explētīvus, serving to fill out, from Latin explētus, past participle of explēre, to fill out : ex-, ex- + plēre, to fill; see pelə-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French explétif = Provencal expletiu = Spanish Portuguese expletivo = Italian espletivo, from Late Latin expletivus, serving to fill out (applied to conjunctions, etc.), from Latin expletus, past participle of explere, fill up: see expletion.
 

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/ˈɛksplətɪv/
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