Meanings
plural Pygmalion words
- UKeuphemisticobsoleteThe word bloody.
Sheridan was speaking about the council fleecing tenants and used a pygmalion word.
1960 April 28, The Times1 more example
As soon as men re-entered the company of women adjustments were made; Emma Duffin reported that one of her charges 'used the 'Pygmalion' word to me' (bloody), but she made him apologise.
1918, Julian Walker, Words and the First World War: Language, Memory, Vocabulary, Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2005, →ISBN, page 117
Origin
From the 1913 George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion, which included the line "not bloody likely" – at that point, the word "bloody" was considered scandalous. See also not Pygmalion likely.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Pygmalion word. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pygmalion%20word
“Pygmalion word.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pygmalion%20word. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Pygmalion word,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pygmalion%20word.
Source: Pygmalion word on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.