four-letter words

noun

plural of four-letter word
as in curses
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression clapped her hands over the toddler's ears so he wouldn't hear the four-letter word

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for four-letter words
  1. curses
  2. languages
  3. swears
Noun
  • Vieira said the show offers another opportunity for people to discover Rockport beyond the fictional curses portrayed in the series.
    — Aaron Parseghian, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2026
  • But repression isn’t a good plan when generations-long curses run in the bloodline, because Sally’s daughter Kylie (Joey King), now a college student, has gone and fallen in love behind her mother’s back.
    — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of curses
Noun
  • The expansion will also introduce new catalogs in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish and more, with more than 120 languages in total.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver’s work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has earned a devoted readership.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of languages
Noun
  • The event finds more than 20,000 people participating in an annual bar crawl throughout the city while dressed in their best holiday attire, tackiest Santa Claus costumes, and ugliest Christmas swears.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Kennedy could be heard hurling swears at the Swedish team.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 23 Feb. 2026
Definition of swears
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

four-letter word
four-letter words
four-poster
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Cite this Entry

“Four-letter words.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/four-letter%20words. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
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Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
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