curse

American  

[kurs] / kɜrs /

noun

1. the expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, doom, etc., befall a person, group, etc.

   Synonyms:

   malediction, fulmination, execration, imprecation

   Antonyms:

   benediction, blessing

2. a formula or charm intended to cause such misfortune to another.

3. the act of reciting such a formula.

4. a profane oath; curse word.

5. an evil that has been invoked upon one.

   Synonyms:

   torment, affliction, plague, scourge, bane, trouble, calamity, misfortune

6. the cause of evil, misfortune, or trouble.

   Synonyms:

   torment, affliction, plague, scourge, bane

7. something accursed.

8. Informal. Usually the curse the menstrual period; menstruation.

9. an ecclesiastical censure or anathema.

   Synonyms:

   imprecation, malediction, fulmination, execration

   Antonyms:

   benediction, blessing

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verb (used with object)

curses, present (3rd person singular) cursed, past participle, past curst, past participle, past cursing present participle

1. to wish or invoke evil, calamity, injury, or destruction upon.

   Antonyms:

   bless

2. to swear at.

3. to blaspheme.

4. to afflict with great evil.

   Synonyms:

   doom, afflict, scourge, plague

5. to excommunicate.

verb (used without object)

curses, present (3rd person singular) cursed, past participle, past curst, past participle, past cursing present participle

1. to utter curses; swear profanely.

curse British  

/ kɜːs /

noun

1. a profane or obscene expression of anger, disgust, surprise, etc; oath

2. an appeal to a supernatural power for harm to come to a specific person, group, etc

3. harm resulting from an appeal to a supernatural power

   to be under a curse

4. something that brings or causes great trouble or harm

5. a saying, charm, effigy, etc, used to invoke a curse

6. an ecclesiastical censure of excommunication

7. informal menstruation or a menstrual period

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verb

1. (intr) to utter obscenities or oaths

2. (tr) to abuse (someone) with obscenities or oaths

3. (tr) to invoke supernatural powers to bring harm to (someone or something)

4. (tr) to bring harm upon

5. (tr) another word for excommunicate

Synonym Usage

Curse, blaspheme, swear are often interchangeable in the sense of using profane language. However, curse is the general word for the heartfelt invoking or angry calling down of evil on another: to curse an enemy. To blaspheme is to speak contemptuously or with abuse of God or of sacred things: to blaspheme openly. To swear is to use the name of God or of some holy person or thing as an exclamation to add force or show anger: to swear in every sentence.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outcurse
  verb (used with object)
• uncursing
  adjective
• curser
  noun

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have curst
  perfect
• have cursed
  perfect
• has curst
  perfect 3rd person singular
• has cursed
  perfect 3rd person singular
• has been cursing
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• am cursing
  progressive 1st person singular
• have been cursing
  perfect progressive
• is cursing
  progressive 3rd person singular
• cursing
  participle
• curses
  singular 3rd person
• are cursing
  progressive

Past

• had cursed
  perfect
• had curst
  perfect
• was cursing
  progressive singular
• had been cursing
  perfect progressive
• cursed
  participle
• curst
  participle
• were cursing
  progressive plural
• curst
  simple
• cursed
  simple

Future

• will curse
  simple
• will have cursed
  perfect
• will have curst
  perfect
• will be cursing
  progressive
• will have been cursing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of curse

First recorded in before 1050; Middle English curs (noun), cursen (verb), Old English curs (noun), cursian (verb), of disputed origin

Explanation

When you curse, you say words you wouldn't want your mother or your priest to hear you saying. A curse can also be wishing something awful on someone, like the witch who puts a curse on Sleeping Beauty. When you hear "maledizione!" in an Italian opera, somebody's having a curse placed on them. The Italian word tells you just what a curse is — it's a "bad saying" — a really bad saying. Like "May you and all your family have nothing but Brussels sprouts to eat forever and ever!" That would be a curse. As a verb, the act of cursing will lead to getting your mouth washed out with soap.

Example Sentences

Films including The Mummy, The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula became global box-office hits, starring actors including Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

From BBC • May 9, 2026

Thousands of people in parts of Northern Ireland are being offered free testing for a disorder commonly known as the Celtic Curse.

From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026

Johnston McCulley, a popular pulp-fiction writer, created the character of Zorro in his 1919 serialized “The Curse of Capistrano.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

But the dunking spawned the legend of the "Curse of the Colonel" that said the Tigers would never win another title until the effigy was recovered.

From Barron's • Dec. 3, 2025

He supposed he should have known better; the Reductor Curse was for solid objects.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

Related Words

• bane
• burden
• calamity
• disaster
• evil
• jinx
• scourge