curse
/kə:s/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A severe affliction; something causing misery or death: A "curse" can refer to a great misfortune or a source of ongoing trouble and suffering.
- An evil spell; an appeal to supernatural power to inflict harm: A "curse" is a spoken or magical formula intended to bring harm, bad luck, or punishment upon a person or group.
- A profane or obscene word or phrase: A "curse" is a swear word, often uttered in anger, surprise, or frustration.
Verb:
- To wish harm or evil upon; to invoke a supernatural punishment: To "curse" someone is to call for harm or misfortune to befall them.
- To utter profane or obscene words; to swear: To "curse" is to use offensive or taboo language.
- To afflict with great suffering or trouble: To be "cursed" is to be plagued by something burdensome or painful.
- To exclude from a church or religious community (excommunicate): In a religious context, to "curse" can mean to formally expel someone.
Examples of Usage
Noun:
- Gambling was the curse of his life. (It was the source of his misery.)
- The old legend says a witch placed a curse on the castle. (She cast an evil spell.)
- He let out a loud curse when he hit his thumb with the hammer. (He swore loudly.)
Verb:
- The king cursed his enemies, wishing them defeat. (He invoked harm upon them.)
- She cursed under her breath when she missed the bus. (She swore quietly.)
- He felt cursed by his poor health. (He felt afflicted by it.)
- The priest had the authority to curse heretics from the congregation. (To excommunicate them.)
Advanced Usage
- "To be under a curse": To be afflicted by a spell or a run of very bad luck.
- The family believed they were under a curse for generations.
- "A curse word": A specific profane or obscene term.
- Children are taught not to use curse words.
- "Not worth a curse": To be completely worthless.
- His promise wasn't worth a curse.
- "Curses come home to roost": Harmful words or actions often rebound to hurt the originator.
- He spread lies about others, but now the curses have come home to roost.
Variants and Related Words
- Cursed (adj): Afflicted with or as if with a curse; damned. Also used as a mild expletive ().
- Curse word (n): A profane or obscene word.
- Cursing (n): The act of uttering curses.
Synonyms
- Noun (spell): Hex, jinx, malediction.
- Noun (swear word): Expletive, oath, profanity.
- Verb (to swear): Blaspheme, swear.
- Verb (to afflict): Plague, bedevil, torment.
Related Phrasal Verbs/Phrases
- Curse out: To swear at someone angrily.
- The manager cursed out the employee for the mistake.
- Curse at: To direct swear words towards someone or something.
- He cursed at the broken computer.
Related Idioms
- To curse like a sailor: To swear frequently and fluently.
- When he's angry, he curses like a sailor.
- A blessing in disguise: (Antithetical concept) Something that seems bad at first but results in something good. Often contrasted with a curse.
- Losing that job was a blessing in disguise, as it led to a better one.
Noun
- a severe affliction
- something causing misery or death
- the bane of my life
- an evil spell
- a witch put a curse on his whole family
- he put the whammy on me
- an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group
- profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
- expletives were deleted
Verb
- exclude from a church or a religious community
- The gay priest was excommunicated when he married his partner
- wish harm upon; invoke evil upon
- The bad witch cursed the child
- heap obscenities upon
- The taxi driver who felt he didn't get a high enough tip cursed the passenger
- utter obscenities or profanities
- The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street