expletive

/eks'pli:tiv/

Friendly

The word "expletive" can be understood in two main ways:

Basic Definition:

1. Expletives as Fillers: An expletive is a word or phrase that does not add any real meaning to a sentence but is used to fill out the sentence. For example, in the sentence "It is raining," the phrase "It is" is an expletive because it doesn't provide new information about the rain itself.

2. Expletives as Swear Words: An expletive can also refer to a swear word or a curse word, often used to express strong emotions like surprise or anger. For example, saying "Oh, shoot!" or using a stronger word when something goes wrong.

Usage Instructions:

• When writing or speaking, expletives can be used to make a sentence grammatically correct, but it’s often better to avoid them for clarity.
• In informal speech, expletives (especially swear words) can convey strong feelings but should be used carefully, as they can be offensive to some people.

Examples:

• Filler Use: "There are many reasons why we should go." (Here, "There are" serves as an expletive.)
• Swear Word Use: "What the heck!" (This is an expletive used to express surprise.)

Advanced Usage:

• In formal writing, it's best to minimize the use of expletives, especially the swearing kind.
• In poetry and creative writing, expletives can be used for rhythm or to convey emotion effectively.

Word Variants:

• The adjective form is "expletive" as well, referring to the nature of the word. For example, "expletive language" means language that includes swear words.

Different Meanings:

• In linguistics, expletives refer to words that fill syntactic positions without contributing meaning, such as "it" in "It seems that..."

Synonyms:

• For the filler meaning: "filler," "placeholder."
• For the swear word meaning: "curse word," "swear word," "profanity."

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:

• While there aren’t specific idioms or phrasal verbs that directly use "expletive," you might hear phrases like "curse like a sailor" which implies using many swear words.

Conclusion:

Understanding the word "expletive" is essential for both writing and speaking.

Academic

Noun

1. a word or phrase conveying no independent meaning but added to fill out a sentence or metrical line
2. profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
   • expletives were deleted

Synonyms

• curse
• curse word
• oath
• swearing
• swearword
• cuss