f-word

plural f-words · alternative f word · alternative F word · alternative F-word

1. euphemisticThe word fuck (or inflected forms like fucking) or fucker.

   Oh, f-word, I've lost the keys.

   1 more example

   The dialogue was littered with f-words.

   Synonyms: f-bomb

2. euphemisticThe word fag or faggot.

   For quotations using this term, see Citations:f-word.

   Synonyms: f-bomb, f-slur

3. The word friends (as opposed to lovers, where a romantic relationship is sought but refused).

   "Oh God." Dave sighed. "The 'F' word is low. Low down." "Yep," I said. "Friends. He said, 'We're just Friends.'"

   2002, Laurie Notaro, The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club, page 79

   1 more example

   Zack wouldn't say the F word. Not... forever. It was too soon to say that. He may be open to a serious relationship again, but he still needed to protect his heart in other ways.

   2018, Cynthia Dane, Just Friends: A Summer Fling With A Billionaire Heir

4. Any word beginning with f that is not normally taboo but is considered (often humorously) to be so in the given context.

   She has no luck with diets. Don't mention the f-word (by which I mean "fat").

   2 more examples

   If the incident in question causes you continued distress and negatively impacts your life, that’s where the f-word — forgiveness — may have a role to play, said psychologist Robert Enright, a pioneer in the field of forgiveness science and professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

   2023 December 10, Andrea Kane, “5 tips to help you flex your forgiveness muscle”, in CNN

   Throughout the program, the “f-word” is not allowed – as in, calling anyone “fat.”

   2024, Anna Mulrine Grobe and Alfredo Sosa, No pushups? No problem. The Army builds a steppingstone to boot camp., in: The Christian Science Monitor, September 10 2024

present singular third person f-words · participle present f-wording · participle past f-worded · past f-worded · alternative f word · alternative F word · alternative F-word

1. euphemisticTo use vulgarities, especially the word fuck.

   Her plain-Jane appearance lulled the Secret Service representatives for a while but it wasn't long before she out f-worded them and became the assertive one in this space chase, […]

   2010, Alan L. Greenberg, Confessions of a Government Man: How to Succeed in Any Bureaucracy, →ISBN, page 142

plural F-words

1. Alternative letter-case form of f-word.

   Until recently, I resisted using the F-word [fascism] to describe President Trump.

   2026 January 25, Jonathan Rauch, “Yes, It’s Fascism”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2026