cuss
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to swear at; curse.
He cussed the pedestrian for getting in his way.
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to criticize or reprimand in harsh terms (often followed byout ).
The coach cussed out the team for losing.
noun
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a person or animal.
a strange but likable cuss.
noun
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a curse; oath
-
a person or animal, esp an annoying one
verb
Other Word Forms
- cusser noun
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.
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
Oftentimes I would talk people down from this righteous anger, then I would be like, “So don’t cuss people out you don’t know,” and then they’d be like, “Yeah, you’re right.”
From Slate • Mar. 2, 2023
“I never heard her use a cuss word my whole life,” Wylie says.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 11, 2022
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
While hanging around my grandpa’s store, I had learned a few cuss words from the men, but I never did use them.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
