cussing

American  

[kuhs-ing] / ˈkʌs ɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or practice of cursing or swearing.

   Keep the cussing to a minimum, as there are kids around.

2. the act of criticizing or reprimanding someone in harsh language (usually followed byout ).

   After three fouls, the player was pulled from the field and got a good cussing out from his coach.

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adjective

1. cursing or swearing.

   A cussing parrot has landed a woman in court for allegedly teaching the bird to swear at her neighbor.

Etymology

Origin of cussing

First recorded in 1830–40; cuss ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun senses; cuss ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective sense

Example Sentences

As late as 1974, Richard Pryor was arrested for “disorderly conduct” simply for cussing in his stand-up act.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2023

Is cussing a part of communication for Scientology believers, one officially sanctioned or dictated?

From Salon • Apr. 29, 2022

“We must always be on guard against mediocre cussing in our writing,” the novelist Katherine Dunn wrote, in a small book called “On Cussing.”

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2019

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

Uncle Phil’s voice roars to life in my head, spewing the words he uses to avoid cussing in front of me.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day

Related Words

• bane
• expletive
• obscenity
• profanity
• whammy