cuss
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to swear at; curse.
He cussed the pedestrian for getting in his way.
-
to criticize or reprimand in harsh terms (often followed byout ).
The coach cussed out the team for losing.
noun
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a person or animal.
a strange but likable cuss.
noun
-
a curse; oath
-
a person or animal, esp an annoying one
verb
Other Word Forms
- cusser noun
Etymology
Origin of cuss
An Americanism first recorded in 1765–75; variant of curse, with loss of r and shortening of vowel, as in ass 2, bass 2, passel, etc.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cutting back to Tuesday on the radio, DJ Envy asked her, “What’s up with you and farts?” as Curtis mentioned using “fart digger” and “fart knocker” as HGTV-palatable cuss words.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026
In any case, attitudes toward the S-word have changed in the last few decades, and it has lost much of its punch as a cuss word, Bergen said.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 25, 2024
Oftentimes I would talk people down from this righteous anger, then I would be like, “So don’t cuss people out you don’t know,” and then they’d be like, “Yeah, you’re right.”
From Slate • Mar. 2, 2023
Instead I had become a public-interest lawyer, before my disease took that from me, and had allowed myself to cuss occasionally, but this was a real departure.
From Washington Post • Jul. 29, 2022
“Yeh, so how come he tip his hat to Sula? How come he don’t cuss her?”
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
