expletive

See also: explétive

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“fill out”), itself from ex (“out, completely”) + *pleō (“fill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspliːtɪv/
• IPA^(key): /ˈɛksplətɪv/

Adjective

expletive (comparative more expletive, superlative most expletive)

1. Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.
   • 1839, Henry Hallam, Introduction to the Literature of Europe, volume 3, London: John Murray, →OCLC, page 501:

     No one entered more fully than Shakespeare into the character of this species of poetry, which admits of no expletive imagery, no merely ornamental line.

   • 1683, Isaac Barrow, The Works of the Learned Isaac Barrow, London: M. Flesher for B. Aylmer, →OCLC, Against vain and raſh Swearing:

     deprecating being taken for ſerious, or to be underſtood that he meaneth any thing by them; but only that he uſeth them as expletive phraſes ... to plump his ſpeech, and fill up ſentences.

2. Marked by expletives (phrase-fillers).

Synonyms

• expletory

Translations

serving to fill up

• Bulgarian: вмъкнат (vmǎknat)
• Catalan: expletiu
• Dutch: opvullend (nl)
• Finnish: täyte-, täyttävä (fi), lisä- (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Füllwort (de) n
• Italian: pleonastico (it), riempitivo
• Portuguese: expletivo (pt)
• Spanish: expletivo

marked by phrase-fillers

• Dutch: expletief (nl), vol krachttermen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: espletivo

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} explétif (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Noun

expletive (plural expletives)

1. A profane, vulgar term, notably a curse or obscene oath.

   If we don't take advantage of any [expletive] in any way, then it's our loss.

2. (linguistics) A word without meaning added to fill a syntactic position.
3. (linguistics) A word that adds to the strength of a phrase without affecting its meaning; an intensifier.

Derived terms

• expletive deleted

Translations

profane, vulgar term — see swear word

word added to fill a syntactic position

• Bulgarian: вмъкната дума (vmǎknata duma)
• Dutch: vulsel (nl), opvulling (nl)
• Finnish: täytesana
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Expletivum n, Expletiv n
• Portuguese: expletivo (pt) m, expletiva f

word that adds strength to a phrase

• Dutch: expletief (woord)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: voimasana (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} explétif (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} dolguluk

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967