dirty word

IPA/ˌdɜːti ˈwɜːd/
IPA/ˌdɜːrti ˈwɜːrd/

dirty word — noun

1. A word that describes sexual acts or body parts and is considered rude, shocking

1.nounB2
Definition

A word that describes sexual acts or body parts and is considered rude, shocking, or insulting by most people.

Example

Liam's grandmother walked out of the room when she heard him use that dirty word.

dirty word used as a taboo term

The teacher told the students that no dirty words are allowed in their essays.

Common collocations
  • use a dirty word
  • say a dirty word
  • hear a dirty word
  • edit out dirty words
  • a dirty word comes out of
Synonyms
  • swear word

    more general term for any profane or taboo expression

  • curse word

    slightly stronger in connotation, often implies the word is used to express anger

  • profanity

    formal and uncountable; refers to the category rather than a single word

  • obscenity

    formal; can also refer to images or gestures, not only words

Antonyms

Usage Note

Often used in the context of media censorship, parenting, or classroom rules. Frequently appears with verbs like 'use', 'say', 'hear', 'remove', or 'edit out'.

Common Mistakes

He said a dirty language.
He used a dirty word.
'dirty language' refers to a general habit of swearing, while 'dirty word' refers to a specific term.

2. A subject, idea, or expression that a particular group of people strongly disapp

2.nounB2
Definition

A subject, idea, or expression that a particular group of people strongly disapprove of or consider morally unacceptable.

Example

In that conservative household, the word 'divorce' was a dirty word nobody dared to mention.

[noun] + be + a dirty word — equating the term with a taboo

For many environmental activists, 'single-use plastic' has become a dirty word.

Common collocations
  • become a dirty word
  • is a dirty word
  • treat as a dirty word
Synonyms
  • taboo

    broader term for any prohibited practice, behaviour, or subject

  • forbidden topic

    more explicit about the rule against discussing it

Antonyms

Usage Note

Unlike sense 1 (sexual swear words), this sense does not involve actual profanity — it is about the social or moral disapproval of a concept. Typically appears in the construction '[subject] + is/was/became + a dirty word'.

Common Mistakes

He used a dirty word to describe the new policy.
The word 'policy change' became a dirty word in the department.
Sense 2 uses 'dirty word' as a label for a disapproved-of term, not as an offensive term itself.

3. A word, expression, or idea that is strongly disliked or opposed within a specif

3.nounC1
Definition

A word, expression, or idea that is strongly disliked or opposed within a specific group, profession, or situation, without necessarily being offensive or immoral.

Example

Among serious wine collectors, the phrase 'screw cap' used to be a dirty word.

used to be a dirty word — past acceptance shift

In the world of high fashion, the word 'comfortable' can sometimes be a dirty word.

Common collocations
  • became a dirty word
  • was a dirty word
  • treated as a dirty word
Synonyms
  • pet peeve

    colloquial; refers to something that annoys a person, not a term itself

  • bête noire

    formal; describes a person or thing that is especially disliked

Antonyms
  • buzzword

    a term that is popular and fashionable in a particular context

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 2: sense 3 is about dislike or opposition within a specific context (not morally charged), whereas sense 2 implies moral disapproval by a broader community.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These four terms all refer to offensive language but differ in scope and register. 'Swear word' is the most common, everyday term for words like damn or hell that express strong emotion. 'Curse word' overlaps heavily but carries a stronger sense of the word being used to wish harm or express anger. 'Profanity' is more formal and uncountable — you say 'a lot of profanity' rather than 'a profanity'. 'Obscenity' is the strongest and most formal; it can refer not only to words but also to images or gestures, and in legal contexts it has a specific definition. For example: 'The movie was full of swear words' sounds natural; 'the artist was charged with obscenity' uses the legal sense. Use 'swear word' for neutral everyday usage, 'curse word' when anger is involved, 'profanity' in formal analysis, and 'obscenity' for extreme or legally defined cases.

swear word ↗curse word ↗profanity ↗obscenity ↗

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

The compound 'dirty word' combines 'dirty' (from Old English dritig, meaning 'containing or covered in filth', but figuratively used since the 1500s to mean 'obscene, morally unclean') with 'word' (from Old English word, a basic unit of language). The phrase emerged in the 19th–20th centuries as a euphemistic label for taboo or offensive vocabulary, and later extended metaphorically to any disliked or disapproved-of concept.

First known use

1774

1774, in the meaning defined above