turd
Americannoun
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turds
plural
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a piece of excrement.
-
a mean, contemptible person.
noun
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a lump of dung; piece of excrement
-
an unpleasant or contemptible person or thing
Usage
This word was formerly considered to be taboo, and it was labelled as such in previous editions of Collins English Dictionary . However, it has now become acceptable in speech, although some older or more conservative people may object to its use
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of turd
before 1000; Middle English; Old English tord
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:
"It's still very early days but, quoting Toto, it doesn't look like it's a turd, which is a bonus," Russell said.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
I can't be asymmetrically loyal because then you look like a turd, so don't be asymmetrically loyal to anybody.
From Salon ● May 18, 2024
When professors aren’t able to distinguish between a student and an A.I., or editors put spit polish on a GPT-generated turd rather than discarding it altogether, it shows that the discrimination process is badly broken.
From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2023
When Butt-Head stares into a toilet, sticks a finger in the air and says: “Now why would someone put a turd in a toilet?” you know the rightful stupidity has been preserved.
From New York Times ● Oct. 4, 2022
He sat there for a few seconds alertly listening, quivering nervously, then he hopped into Pacheco’s hand, deposited a friendly little turd in the palm, fluffed up, and contentedly went to sleep.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
On the page, the mighty ships are reduced to stray dots like mouse turds.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
“There are literally turds and tampons in the street in front of my house,” Kathy Keily of Winter Park texted a friend group on Friday.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2022
Dessert was a plate of imitation turds molded from chocolate cake.
From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2021
Larkin says the most part of the creative project is asking “the type of people that own million-dollar thoroughbreds if I can please have some horse turds to put in jars.”
From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2019
Scene: Small turds of an unfamiliar shape appear here and there along the baseboards of the first floor.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
