A-word

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A bad word that starts with the letter a, such as ass/arse or asshole/arsehole. euphemistic
  2. 2
    The word alleluia, typically in the context of Lent since the Lenten liturgies of various Christian churches omit the alleluia. euphemistic

    "It was Lent; “alleluia” is not sung in the Catholic church during Lent. I told her Babloo liked songs with the “A-word.”"

  3. 3
    Any word beginning with a that is not normally taboo but is considered (often humorously) to be so in the given context.

    "Specialists sometimes choose PDD-NOS instead of an autism diagnosis because they are afraid that the “a-word” frightens patients."

Example

More examples

"It was Lent; “alleluia” is not sung in the Catholic church during Lent. I told her Babloo liked songs with the “A-word.”"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.