swine

American  

[swahyn] / swaɪn /

noun

• swine,
  plural
• swines
  plural

1. any stout, cloven-hoofed artiodactyl of the Old World family Suidae, having a thick hide sparsely covered with coarse hair, a disklike snout, and an often short, tasseled tail: now of worldwide distribution and hunted or raised for its meat and other products.

2. the domestic hog, Sus scrofa.

3. a coarse, gross, or brutishly sensual person.

4. a contemptible person.

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swine British  

/ swaɪn /

noun

1. a coarse or contemptible person

2. another name for a pig

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swine Idioms  

1. see cast pearls before swine.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• swinishness
  noun
• swinelike
  adjective
• swinish
  adjective
• swinishly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• swine
  plural
• swines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of swine

before 900; Middle English; Old English swīn; cognate with German Schwein hog, Latin suīnus (adj.) porcine; akin to sow ²

Explanation

A swine is a pig or a big ol’ nasty hog. Swine have short legs, thick bodies, and they eat just about anything. If someone acts like a pig, call him a swine. Although it’s old fashioned, the word swine comes in handy if you need another word for hog, like if you’re really into writing poems about pigs. Swine — which is also the plural form, like fish — are common farm animals. Some are eaten as bacon, some are kept as pets. Swine themselves are omnivorous, so they'll eat meat, vegetables, or, well, garbage.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

swine swines

The other actor whose presence deeply impacted the production, Nolan reports, is Samantha Morton, mesmerizing as Circe, the goddess who changes Odysseus’ men into swine.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

No revolutionary, Wood writes, “defended with more vehemence common ordinary people against the aristocracy—‘against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle, and fed and cloathed like swine and hounds.’

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

There have been nine such declarations, including the Ebola outbreak in 2013, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the swine flu pandemic in 2009.

From MarketWatch ● May 17, 2026

The last one in 2009, called swine flu, was comparatively mild.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026

At this point in their talk the swine had come up to the clearing, and the drovers followed to pen them for the night—the porkers squealing to high heaven, milling around the yard.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

Human respiratory physiology is more like that of swines than felines.

From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2025

Another manager on the brink is Quique Sànchez Flores, reportedly set to be sacked by the ungrateful swines at Watford, with a first top-ten finish in 30 years still on the table.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 30, 2016

But 'e says, "None of yer jabber, ye swines; 'elp me inter my bunk, and two of yer bring me a 'ot linseed poultice for my chest."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, March 28, 1917 by Various

This person professes himself to be of the Mahometan faith, and will not permit swines flesh to be eaten in his dominions.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 01 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Kerr, Robert

My swines are ill," he informed her, greatly agitated, his fragile English going altogether to pieces in his perturbation; "my inspector writes they perpetually die.

From The Benefactress by Elizabeth

Related Words

• blackguard
• bounder
• cad
• cur
• knave
• rogue
• rotter
• scoundrel
• varlet
• worm
• wretch