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Expletive
//ˈɛksplətɪv// adj, noun
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.
"No one entered more fully than Shakespeare into the character of this species of poetry, which admits of no expletive imagery, no merely ornamental line."
- 2 Marked by expletives (phrase-fillers).
Noun
- 1 A profane, vulgar term, notably a curse or obscene oath.
"If we don't take advantage of any [expletive] in any way, then it's our loss."
- 2 profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger wordnet
- 3 A word without meaning added to fill a syntactic position.
- 4 a word or phrase conveying no independent meaning but added to fill out a sentence or metrical line wordnet
- 5 A word that adds to the strength of a phrase without affecting its meaning (such as fuckin in "there's no fuckin way he's gonna get away with it").
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- 6 An obscene or otherwise offensive interjection (such as shit, fuck, or damn it).
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from Latin explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“fill out”), itself from ex (“out, completely”) + *pleō (“fill”).
Etymology 2
From Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from Latin explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“fill out”), itself from ex (“out, completely”) + *pleō (“fill”).
See also for "expletive"
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