Noun: expletive ek-splu-tiv [N. Amer], ek'splee-tiv or ik'splee-tiv [Brit]
- A word or phrase conveying no independent meaning but added to fill out a sentence or metrical line
"He used 'well' as an expletive at the beginning of many sentences"
- Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
"expletives were deleted";
- curse, curse word, oath, swearing, swearword, cuss [informal], cussword [N. Amer, informal]
Derived forms: expletives
Type of: profanity, utterance, vocalization
Encyclopedia: Expletive