curse
Americannoun
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curses
plural
-
the expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, doom, etc., befall a person, group, etc.
- Synonyms:
- malediction, fulmination, execration, imprecation
- Antonyms:
- benediction, blessing
-
a formula or charm intended to cause such misfortune to another.
-
the act of reciting such a formula.
-
a profane oath; curse word.
-
an evil that has been invoked upon one.
- Synonyms:
- torment, affliction, plague, scourge, bane, trouble, calamity, misfortune
-
the cause of evil, misfortune, or trouble.
- Synonyms:
- torment, affliction, plague, scourge, bane
-
something accursed.
-
Informal. Usually the curse the menstrual period; menstruation.
-
an ecclesiastical censure or anathema.
- Synonyms:
- imprecation, malediction, fulmination, execration
- Antonyms:
- benediction, blessing
verb (used with object)
-
curses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cursed,
past participle, past
-
curst,
past participle, past (Archaic)
-
cursing
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
curses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cursed,
past participle, past
-
curst,
past participle, past (Archaic)
-
cursing
present participle
noun
-
a profane or obscene expression of anger, disgust, surprise, etc; oath
-
an appeal to a supernatural power for harm to come to a specific person, group, etc
-
harm resulting from an appeal to a supernatural power
to be under a curse
-
something that brings or causes great trouble or harm
-
a saying, charm, effigy, etc, used to invoke a curse
-
an ecclesiastical censure of excommunication
-
informal menstruation or a menstrual period
verb
-
(intr) to utter obscenities or oaths
-
(tr) to abuse (someone) with obscenities or oaths
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(tr) to invoke supernatural powers to bring harm to (someone or something)
-
(tr) to bring harm upon
-
(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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cursesimple
-
cursessimple
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have cursedperfect
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have curstperfect
-
has cursedperfect
-
has curstperfect
-
am cursingprogressive
-
are cursingprogressive
-
is cursingprogressive
-
have been cursingperfect progressive
-
has been cursingperfect progressive
Past
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cursedsimple
-
curstsimple
-
had cursedperfect
-
had curstperfect
-
was cursingprogressive
-
were cursingprogressive
-
had been cursingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing curse
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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Holes
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Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Your $3 million windfall is a luxury, a blessing and, only if you let it, a curse.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
For readers who are familiar with the literary curse of Plaschke in his column over the years, this prediction is not that.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
For a story about witches who have both the curse to kill something and the ability to resurrect it, reappraising a dead-on-arrival film is appropriately meta.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Being locked out of Ibrox might have seemed like a curse to Celtic folk.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
“Terrible curse, made long before they were born.”
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
The president in this book never curses, even when throwing backroom tantrums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
Research from the University of South Wales, Derby University and Manchester University showed modern brides are reluctant to buy pre-loved gowns because they're worried about stains, smells - and even "curses".
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
As quickly as possible, the crew wrapped up their ill-gotten gains and made for the exit as the four guardians wailed pleas and threats and curses behind them.
From Slate ● Dec. 15, 2024
He curses out Brian, then responds to Alice's suggestion that forgiving Louis may help him by doing that — then in the next breath, making Louis promise to cut ties with his daughter.
From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2024
Bill’s taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn’t believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
"The victim should be consoled at this time, not cursed," one of them read.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Then we have Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, whom Odysseus follows to Troy and, ultimately, his cursed fate.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
My mother, Caroline, never cursed or raised her voice, and was almost fairylike in her tone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
But the siblings didn’t believe they were actually cursed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
I cursed the laziness of the servants that they should lie abed at such an hour—for it was now ten o’clock—and so rang and knocked again, but more impatiently, but still without response.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
O luxury! thou curst by Heaven's decree, How ill exchanged are things like these for thee!
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2020
I always abhor'd the Art of Patience, and curst all Fisher-men.
From The Life and Death of Doctor Faustus Made into a Farce by William Mountfort
Hold, hold, let me hear no more of your curst dreams.
From The Castle of Andalusia A Comic Opera, in Three Acts by John O'Keeffe
But those 'tis known who die of thirst Ne'er rest in quiet graves, So now he storms with dryness curst As ghost around and raves: 'Rouse there! rouse out of the house, there!
From Gaudeamus! Humorous Poems by Joseph Victor von Scheffel
Give him the Prize, O Goddess, if thou durst, A Wretch beneath his lowest Puppets curst.
From The Scribleriad and The Difference Between Verbal and Practical Virtue by Anonymous
Bowie may have been cursing his luck again on Tuesday when his first international start was reduced to a mere 13 minutes following Jack Hendry's red card in the Hampden loss to Switzerland.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
“I always tell people, it’s not the million-dollar estate that has people cursing probate. It’s the ’72 Ford Torino up on blocks in your garage,” said Keller.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Indeed, old photos show a room with seating for all, with sharply dressed riders reading newspapers and enjoying casual conversation rather than standing in a sweaty mob and cursing their travel agents.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
Why can baseball and basketball players do their jobs with 60,000 hostile fans cursing at full volume but golfers and tennis players need complete silence to do theirs?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2025
A woman was indeed coming out on the sandbar, slipping and no doubt cursing to herself, for her lips went up and down between her clear, peremptory calls.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
