cuss
Americanverb (used without object)
-
cusses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cussed,
past participle, past
-
cussing
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
cusses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cussed,
past participle, past
-
cussing
present participle
-
to swear at; curse.
He cussed the pedestrian for getting in his way.
-
to criticize or reprimand in harsh terms (often followed byout ).
The coach cussed out the team for losing.
noun
-
a curse; oath
-
a person or animal, esp an annoying one
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cusssimple
-
cussessimple
-
have cussedperfect
-
has cussedperfect
-
am cussingprogressive
-
are cussingprogressive
-
is cussingprogressive
-
have been cussingperfect progressive
-
has been cussingperfect progressive
Past
-
cussedsimple
-
had cussedperfect
-
was cussingprogressive
-
were cussingprogressive
-
had been cussingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cuss
An Americanism first recorded in 1765–75; variant of curse, with loss of r and shortening of vowel, as in ass 2, bass 2, passel, etc.
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:
Cutting back to Tuesday on the radio, DJ Envy asked her, “What’s up with you and farts?” as Curtis mentioned using “fart digger” and “fart knocker” as HGTV-palatable cuss words.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
In any case, attitudes toward the S-word have changed in the last few decades, and it has lost much of its punch as a cuss word, Bergen said.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
Instead I had become a public-interest lawyer, before my disease took that from me, and had allowed myself to cuss occasionally, but this was a real departure.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2022
"Heck, yes. But am I going to allow a child to cuss anyone out? Heck, no."
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2021
Call’s cuss words were taught to him by his sainted grandmother and tended to be as quaint as the clothes she made for him.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Over the next four minutes, Lamar delivered his verses with linguistic clarity, minus the oft-impenetrable insider metaphors or wasteful cusses that typify lazier lyricists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2015
On Guy Fieri: “He cusses like a chef,” Helle said.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2015
Just because somebody cusses doesn’t make them a bad person and just because a guy doesn’t cuss doesn’t make him a good person.
From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2010
I heard a lot of things, cusses and cheers, jokes and conches, horns and drums, but nothing that sounded like a distinctive phrase.
From The Guardian ● May 5, 2010
I didn’t know what most of Doug Swieteck’s brother’s cusses meant, either, and it didn’t make all that much difference.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
“He never yelled at me. Never cussed at me. Never lost his temper with me or the kids,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
It was a performance that recalled the cussed stubbornness of great England teams past.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2023
Often recognized by his trademark sailor’s cap, Newman also wrote two dozen books and earned the informal title of Canada’s “most cussed and discussed commentator,” said HarperCollins, one of his publishers, in an author’s note.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
Over her refusal to comply with the school’s mandate, Smith told the paper that people have "cussed her out" and that some of her best friends "won’t talk to me."
From Fox News ● Oct. 11, 2021
I once asked Gram if she would really go back to the egg man if Gramps cussed too much.
From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
Neither is he known for casually cussing in private.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
Is cussing a part of communication for Scientology believers, one officially sanctioned or dictated?
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2022
“They are under attack constantly,” he said, noting that police officers decades ago could “arrest someone for cussing them out,” until court rulings curtailed such police powers.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2021
Partly because so much of the audio was cut out for cussing, it wasn’t the best-sounding Grammy performance, but it was probably the most alive moment of the night.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2019
Her pregame instructions were spare: no cussing, and no tackling from behind.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
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.
