English

Noun

dirty word ‎(plural dirty words)

1. A word that is considered vulgar, not necessarily sexual in nature.
   • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:

     Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths.

   The child was made to sit in the corner as punishment for saying a dirty word.‎

2. (idiomatic) The name of a topic that a person does not like to hear or discuss.

   Work is a dirty word to him.‎

Synonyms

• (vulgar term): curse, curse word, oath, profanity

Translations

See also

• cacophemism
• dirty language
• dysphemism
• euphemism