expletive

(ĕk'splĭ-tĭv)
n.

1. An exclamation or oath, especially one that is profane, vulgar, or obscene.
2. 1. A word or phrase that does not contribute any meaning but is added only to fill out a sentence or a metrical line.
   2. 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.

[From Late Latin explētīvus, serving to fill out, from Latin explētus, past participle of explēre, to fill out : ex-, ex- + plēre, to fill.]

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is an adjective and a noun: both are pronounced ik-splee-tiv, with the stress on the second syllable. The primary meaning is 'filling out a sentence, line of verse, etc.', and the noun denotes a word that does this, typically in verse, without adding any meaning. In more recent use expletive as a noun will be familiar in the extended sense 'an oath or swear word', a use that goes back to Sir Walter Scott

(We omit here various execrations with which these honest gentlemen garnished their discourse, retaining only such of their expletives as are least offensive—Guy Mannering, 1815).

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Expletives, contrary to popular opinion, are not only "bad language." They can also be words that don't have any meaning themselves but simply serve as linguistic padding, added in where a sentence needs them. Ironically, the kind of expletives that are bad language often get deleted:

"US President George W Bush has been caught on microphone using an expletive as he discussed Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israel."

Link: Bush lunch chat is caught on tape

Posted July 18, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

noun

A profane or obscene term: blasphemy, curse, epithet, oath, swearword. Informal cuss. See decent/indecent, sacred/profane, words.

Something used to fill up, as a piece of masonry used to fill a cavity.

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(ek-spluh-tiv)

Any exclamation or oath, especially one that is obscene or profane, as in “Dammit, I forgot to buy the milk.”

The Oval Office tapes of President Richard Nixon, released during the investigation of the Watergate scandal, made famous the phrase “expletive deleted,” which appeared frequently in expurgated transcripts of the tapes.

IN BRIEF: A swear word.

The students are not allowed to use even one expletive in class.

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For a list of words related to expletive, see:

• Grammar and Usage - expletive: word used to introduce a subject, esp. “there” or “it” used as introductory word
• Rhetoric and Figures of Speech - expletive: emphatic interjection

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  See crossword solutions for the clue Expletive.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - ed, fyldeord
adj. - overflødig, udfyldende

Nederlands (Dutch)
uitroep (m.n. vloek), opvulsel, expletief woord, als opvulsel dienend, met veel vloeken

Français (French)
n. - interjection, exclamation, juron (serment), (Ling) explétif
adj. - (Ling) explétif

Deutsch (German)
n. - Kraftausdruck, Füllwort
adj. - ausfüllend

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μτφ.) βλαστήμια

Italiano (Italian)
imprecazione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - blasfêmia (f)

Русский (Russian)
бранное слово, дополнительный

Español (Spanish)
n. - expletivo
adj. - voz expletiva, exclamación

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - fyllnads-, fyllnadsord, svordom

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
填充词, 语助词, 咒骂语, 感叹语, 填补物, 填补的, 附加的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 填充詞, 語助詞, 咒罵語, 感歎語, 填補物
adj. - 填補的, 附加的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 덧붙인 어구
adj. - 보충적인

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ののしりのことば, 虚辞

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) كلمه لسد الفراغ‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קריאה בקול של שבועה, קללה או ביטוי אחר, מלת סרק, מילה למילוי משפט, במיוחד בשירה‬
adj. - ‮משמש כמילוי (משפט, שורת שיר וכו')‬

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