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Expletive   /ˈɛksplətɪv/   Listen
noun
Expletive  n.  A word, letter, or syllable not necessary to the sense, but inserted to fill a vacancy; an oath. "While explectives their feeble aid to join, And ten low words oft creep in one dull line."



adjective
Expletive  adj.  Filling up; hence, added merely for the purpose of filling up; superfluous. "Expletive imagery." "Expletive phrases to plump his speech."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Expletive" Quotes from Famous Books



... shadows, and his place on the bench was taken almost immediately by a young man, fairly well dressed but scarcely more cheerful of mien than his predecessor. As if to emphasise the fact that the world went badly with him the new-corner unburdened himself of an angry and very audible expletive as he ...
— Beasts and Super-Beasts • Saki

... boy burst into bitter expletive at that instant Caleb would not have been so surprised as he was at Steve's reception of his question. The latter looked up, just pushed his long hair back from his forehead with one quick hand; and then smiled, ...
— Then I'll Come Back to You • Larry Evans

... throws greater light on an author than the concurrence of a contemporary writer, I am inclined to be of Hiccius' opinion, and to consider the "All" as an elegant expletive, or, as he more aptly phrases it elegans expletivum. The passage therefore must ...
— English Satires • Various

... head and neck, becoming nearly black on the breast; clear olive-green back, and yellow belly. From his habit of keeping near the ground, even hopping upon it occasionally, I know him to be a ground warbler; from his dark breast the ornithologist has added the expletive mourning, ...
— In the Catskills • John Burroughs

... see insipid mildness complacently swallowed as an excellent thing, knowing the rich smack of savour proper to the story, is your anecdotal gentleman's annoyance. But if the anecdote had supported him, Sullivan Smith would have let the expletive rest. ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith


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