expletive means serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.
expletive is pronounced /ɪkˈspliːtɪv/.
Why “expletive” is a great word
A word or phrase serving merely to occupy space, either as syntactic filler or as an outburst of emotional emphasis. From Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“to fill out”), from ex (“out, completely”) + pleō (“to fill”); first attested in the mid-15th century in a grammatical sense. Unlike “profanity,” which is defined by its taboo-breaking irreverence, or “interjection,” a formal part of speech for sudden feeling, an expletive is defined by its function as a linguistic void. It is the bureaucratic “herewith,” the conversational “you know,” or the visceral, sharp crack of a curse in a silent room — the sound we make when meaning has deserted us, and something, anything, must take its place.
Etymology
From Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from Latin explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“fill out”), itself from ex (“out, completely”) + *pleō (“fill”).
adj
- Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.“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.”
- Marked by expletives (phrase-fillers).
noun
- 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.”
- A word without meaning added to fill a syntactic position.
- A word that adds to the strength of a phrase without affecting its meaning (such as fuckin in "there's no fuckin way he's gonna get away with it").
- An obscene or otherwise offensive interjection (such as shit, fuck, or damn it).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- pleonasm 84% match — Redundancy in wording. vs expletive →
- epenthesis 83% match — The insertion of a phoneme, letter, or syllable into a word, usually to satisfy the phonological constraints of a language or poetic context. vs expletive →
- execrative 82% match — A word used for cursing; an oath. vs expletive →
- verbosity 82% match — The excess use of words, especially using more than are needed for clarity or precision. vs expletive →
- periphrase 82% match — The use of more words than are necessary to express the idea; a roundabout, or indirect, way of speaking; circumlocution. vs expletive →
- empty 81% match — Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant. vs expletive →
- apropos 81% match — Of an appropriate or pertinent nature. vs expletive →
- deixis 81% match — The use of a word, such as a particle or pronoun, to refer to something that must be identified from the immediate physical, temporal, or grammatical context; a word used in such a way. vs expletive →