English Dictionary |
CURSE (curst)
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
IPA (US): |
Dictionary entry overview: What does curse mean?
• CURSE (noun)
The noun CURSE has 5 senses:
1. profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
2. an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group
4. something causing misery or death
Familiarity information: CURSE used as a noun is common.
• CURSE (verb)
The verb CURSE has 4 senses:
1. utter obscenities or profanities
3. wish harm upon; invoke evil upon
4. exclude from a church or a religious community
Familiarity information: CURSE used as a verb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
curse; curse word; cuss; expletive; oath; swearing; swearword
Context example:
expletives were deleted
Hypernyms ("curse" is a kind of...):
profanity (vulgar or irreverent speech or action)
Derivation:
curse (utter obscenities or profanities)
curse (heap obscenities upon)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
condemnation; curse; execration
Hypernyms ("curse" is a kind of...):
denouncement; denunciation (a public act of denouncing)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "curse"):
anathema (a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication)
imprecation; malediction (the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult))
Derivation:
curse (wish harm upon; invoke evil upon)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An evil spell
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
Context example:
he put the whammy on me
Hypernyms ("curse" is a kind of...):
charm; magic spell; magical spell; spell (a verbal formula believed to have magical force)
Derivation:
curse (wish harm upon; invoke evil upon)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Something causing misery or death
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Synonyms:
Context example:
the bane of my life
Hypernyms ("curse" is a kind of...):
affliction (a cause of great suffering and distress)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A severe affliction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Synonyms:
curse; torment
Hypernyms ("curse" is a kind of...):
affliction (a cause of great suffering and distress)
Conjugation: |
Past simple: cursed
Past participle: cursed
-ing form: cursing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Utter obscenities or profanities
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
blaspheme; curse; cuss; imprecate; swear
Context example:
The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street
Hypernyms (to "curse" is one way to...):
express; give tongue to; utter; verbalise; verbalize (articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise)
Verb group:
blaspheme (speak of in an irreverent or impious manner)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
curse (profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Heap obscenities upon
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Context example:
The taxi driver who felt he didn't get a high enough tip cursed the passenger
Hypernyms (to "curse" is one way to...):
abuse; blackguard; clapperclaw; shout (use foul or abusive language towards)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Sentence example:
They want to curse the prisoners
Derivation:
curse (profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Wish harm upon; invoke evil upon
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
anathemise; anathemize; bedamn; beshrew; curse; damn; imprecate; maledict
Context example:
The bad witch cursed the child
Hypernyms (to "curse" is one way to...):
arouse; bring up; call down; call forth; conjure; conjure up; evoke; invoke; put forward; raise; stir (summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Antonym:
bless (give a benediction to)
Derivation:
curse (an evil spell)
curse (an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Exclude from a church or a religious community
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
curse; excommunicate; unchurch
Context example:
The gay priest was excommunicated when he married his partner
Hypernyms (to "curse" is one way to...):
exclude; keep out; shut; shut out (prevent from entering; shut out)
Verb group:
excommunicate (oust or exclude from a group or membership by decree)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Context examples
“Those cursed hunters,” was his comment.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Have a care; I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
See! the snow is not more stainless than her forehead! The curse has passed away!
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Dazed by the rapid succession of blows, Martin warned them back with vile and earnest curses sobbed out and groaned in ultimate desolation and despair.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
I say that these monstrous laws of yours will bring a curse upon the land—God will not let such wickedness endure.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I got down into the canoe, while the Dutchman, standing upon the deck, loaded me with all the curses and injurious terms his language could afford.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Holmes tore it open, and then with a bitter curse hurled it into the grate.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Letters are no matter of indifference; they are generally a very positive curse.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The man cursed and flung the empty gun from him.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient shout or curse angrily?
(NPI - Shout or Curse Angrily, NCI Thesaurus)
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