a word, especially a rude word, that you use when you are angry, or in pain synonym swear word(愤怒或痛苦时用的)秽语,咒骂语,感叹语 He dropped the book on his foot and muttered several expletives under his breath. 他把书放在脚上,低声咒骂了几句。 ‘Why don't you just [expletive deleted] (= used when you edit out a rude word when reporting what somebody has said)?’ “你为什么不直接[咒骂语删除]?
Word Originlate Middle English (as an adjective): from late Latin expletivus, from explere ‘fill out’, from ex- ‘out’ + plere ‘fill’. The noun sense ‘word used merely to fill out a sentence’ (early 17th cent.) was applied specifically to a swear word in the early 19th cent.