"expletive deleted" meaning in English

See expletive deleted in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Etymology: Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”. Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} expletive deleted (not comparable)
  1. (euphemistic, humorous) An all-purpose profanity. Tags: euphemistic, humorous, not-comparable
    Sense id: en-expletive_deleted-en-adj-0YL08qcj Categories (other): English euphemisms, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 34 35 31

Noun

Forms: expletives deleted [plural]
Etymology: Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”. Head templates: {{en-noun|expletives deleted}} expletive deleted (plural expletives deleted)
  1. (euphemistic, humorous) An all-purpose profanity. Tags: euphemistic, humorous
    Sense id: en-expletive_deleted-en-noun-0YL08qcj Categories (other): English euphemisms, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 34 35 31

Verb

Etymology: Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”. Head templates: {{head|en|verb}} expletive deleted
  1. (rare, euphemistic, humorous) To have sex with. Tags: euphemistic, humorous, rare Synonyms: discuss Uganda, get into someone's pants, someone's etchings, copulate, copulate with
    Sense id: en-expletive_deleted-en-verb-pqiUiagB Categories (other): English euphemisms, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 34 35 31

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for expletive deleted meaning in English (4.1kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "expletives deleted",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "expletives deleted"
      },
      "expansion": "expletive deleted (plural expletives deleted)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English euphemisms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 35 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, J. David Markham, Mike Resnick, History Revisited: The Great Battles, Eminent Historians Take on the Great Works of Alternative History, . BenBella Books, page 41",
          "text": "Because you sold him out just to have a martyr, you expletive deleted.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An all-purpose profanity."
      ],
      "id": "en-expletive_deleted-en-noun-0YL08qcj",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(euphemistic, humorous) An all-purpose profanity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic",
        "humorous"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Watergate scandal",
    "expletive deleted"
  ],
  "word": "expletive deleted"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "expletive deleted (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English euphemisms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 35 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003, Toby Miller, “What It Is and What It Isn’t: Cultural Studies Meets Graduate Student Labor”, in Austin Sarat, Jonathan Simon, editors, Cultural Analysis, Cultural Studies, and the Law: Moving Beyond Legal Realism, Duke University Press, page 90",
          "text": "You are paid a lot of money; kindly do some expletive-deleted work.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An all-purpose profanity."
      ],
      "id": "en-expletive_deleted-en-adj-0YL08qcj",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(euphemistic, humorous) An all-purpose profanity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic",
        "humorous",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Watergate scandal",
    "expletive deleted"
  ],
  "word": "expletive deleted"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb"
      },
      "expansion": "expletive deleted",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English euphemisms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 35 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1993, Steve Allen, Make ’em laugh, Prometheus Books, page 293",
          "text": "I’d like to expletive deleted you.\nOh, expletive, that’s what I’d like to do.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To have sex with."
      ],
      "id": "en-expletive_deleted-en-verb-pqiUiagB",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "have sex",
          "have sex"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare, euphemistic, humorous) To have sex with."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "discuss Uganda"
        },
        {
          "word": "get into someone's pants"
        },
        {
          "word": "someone's etchings"
        },
        {
          "word": "copulate"
        },
        {
          "word": "copulate with"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic",
        "humorous",
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Watergate scandal",
    "expletive deleted"
  ],
  "word": "expletive deleted"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "expletives deleted",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "expletives deleted"
      },
      "expansion": "expletive deleted (plural expletives deleted)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English euphemisms",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, J. David Markham, Mike Resnick, History Revisited: The Great Battles, Eminent Historians Take on the Great Works of Alternative History, . BenBella Books, page 41",
          "text": "Because you sold him out just to have a martyr, you expletive deleted.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An all-purpose profanity."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(euphemistic, humorous) An all-purpose profanity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic",
        "humorous"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Watergate scandal",
    "expletive deleted"
  ],
  "word": "expletive deleted"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "expletive deleted (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English euphemisms",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003, Toby Miller, “What It Is and What It Isn’t: Cultural Studies Meets Graduate Student Labor”, in Austin Sarat, Jonathan Simon, editors, Cultural Analysis, Cultural Studies, and the Law: Moving Beyond Legal Realism, Duke University Press, page 90",
          "text": "You are paid a lot of money; kindly do some expletive-deleted work.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An all-purpose profanity."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(euphemistic, humorous) An all-purpose profanity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic",
        "humorous",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Watergate scandal",
    "expletive deleted"
  ],
  "word": "expletive deleted"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least the 1930s, but popularized in the U.S. after the Watergate scandal, during which transcripts of conversations were published with profanity replaced by “[EXPLETIVE DELETED]”.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb"
      },
      "expansion": "expletive deleted",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English euphemisms",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with rare senses"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1993, Steve Allen, Make ’em laugh, Prometheus Books, page 293",
          "text": "I’d like to expletive deleted you.\nOh, expletive, that’s what I’d like to do.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To have sex with."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "have sex",
          "have sex"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare, euphemistic, humorous) To have sex with."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic",
        "humorous",
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "discuss Uganda"
    },
    {
      "word": "get into someone's pants"
    },
    {
      "word": "someone's etchings"
    },
    {
      "word": "copulate"
    },
    {
      "word": "copulate with"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Watergate scandal",
    "expletive deleted"
  ],
  "word": "expletive deleted"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.