Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An exclamation or oath, especially one that is profane, vulgar, or obscene.
- n. A word or phrase that does not contribute any meaning but is added only to fill out a sentence or a metrical line.
- n. 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.
- adj. Added or inserted in order to fill out something, such as a sentence or a metrical line.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Serving to fill up; added to fill a vacancy, or for factitious emphasis: specifically used of words. See II., 2.
- n. Something used to fill up; something not necessary but used for embellishment.
- n. In rhetoric and grammar, a word or syllable which is not necessary to the sense or construction, or to an adequate description of a thing, but which is added for rhetorical, rhythmical, or metrical reasons, or which, being once necessary or significant, has lost notional force. Expletives of the former kind are usually trite adjectives, added, as in feeble prose or verse, for the mere sound or to fill out a line, or else irrelevant words or terms used for factitious emphasis, as in profane swearing. Expletives of the latter kind are usually particles like the introductory there, used without local reference, and the auxiliary do, used as in the first line of the quotation from Pope.
- n. Hence, by euphemism, an oath; an exclamatory imprecation: as, his conversation was garnished with expletives.
Wiktionary
- adj. Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant
- adj. Marked by expletives (phrase-fillers)
- n. A word without meaning added to fill a syntactic position.
- n. A word that adds to the strength of a phrase without affecting its meaning.
- n. A profane, vulgar term, notably a curse or obscene oath.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Filling up; hence, added merely for the purpose of filling up; superfluous.
- n. A word, letter, or syllable not necessary to the sense, but inserted to fill a vacancy; an oath.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a word or phrase conveying no independent meaning but added to fill out a sentence or metrical line
- n. profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
Etymologies
- 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.
Examples
“Your example of the expletive is a good one (“There were mistakes.”)”
Global Language Monitor’s debate analysis nonsense (Part 2) « Motivated Grammar
“I hope they burn in expletive, or get hit by an asteroid.”
“Pretty sad when an honest expletive is "your best" act in office, but that's a fair reflection of his sad contribution to American politics.”
“The expletive is entirely implied, and Politico reports that the Clark campaign insists that the ad not be described as using an expletive.”
The Washington Post: Clark: Michele Bachmann hasn't done @#%! for her district
“I can only imagine that this display of peevishness, combined with you impassioned use of the Anglo-Saxon expletive, is an attempt to stymie your critics with the depth of your feeling rather than the strength of your arguments.”
“How about an expletive from the mouth of Albert Belle?”
“Here the edifying conversation was interrupted by a loud explosive expletive from the buttery, which showed that my grandmother was listening with anything but approbation.”
“I recently received an e-mail from a friend stating how the "expletive" - Democrats were trying to steal the election via "expletive" - ACORN registering a "expletive" - bunch of criminals and non-existent, non-entities and how the "expletive, expletive, expletive" - need to be taken out and shot.”
“Her onstage patter relied heavily on a certain expletive, and she undercut "Basket Case," the evening's most doleful offering, by dedicating it to "everyone out there who's sad.”
The Washington Post: Music review: Sara Bareilles at 9:30 Club
“He later said" the [expletive] is gonna hit the fan on November 2 "before endorsing Republican candidates Meg Whitman and Marco Rubio.”
The Washington Post: Hank Williams Jr. flashes his own brand of charisma
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘expletive’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( etymology )
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 837 more...
qroqqa In grammar, a word empty of meaning. These include unintegrated fillers such as 'like', 'I mean', 'sort of', as well as nouns such as the dummy subject pronouns 'it' and 'there'. Swear words can be considered expletive if they're uttered out of habit with no intensifying meaning: from this has arisen the practice (outside grammar) of calling all swear words expletives. Jul 29, 2008