maledicta

M3A1L1E1D2I1C3T1A1

noun

Profane or blasphemous language.

Scrabble 14

Meanings

nounmaledicta pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyProfane or blasphemous language.
    1 more example

    We see this in the third commandment, in the popularity of hell, damn, God, and Jesus Christ, and in many of the terms for taboo language itself: profanity (that which is not sacred), blasphemy (literally "evil speech" but in practice disrespect toward a deity), and swearing, cursing, and oaths, which were originally secured by the invocation of a deity or one of his symbols, like the tabernacle, chalice, and wafer incongruously found in Catholic maledicta.

    2007, Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature, page 340
  2. pluralplural onlyTaboo language of all kinds, including profanity, blasphemy, swearing, cursing, insults, hate speech, impolite language, etc.

    Other types of maledicta are jarns, nittles, and quimps.

    2022, Tara Lazar, Absurd Words, page 112
    2 more examples

    For 11 years now, “day and night, every Saturday and Sunday,” Aman had devoted his life to what he calls maledicta, the scholarly study of profanity and insults.

    1977 October 30, Edith Herman, “*%&!$*&#-X!!!: Naughty Words — Reinhold Aman knows them all”, in Toledo Blade

    Most foreigners believe that Japanese is sparse in maledicta, which is not true. However, they can be quite subtle at times and tend to bypass the square-heads conditioned to blunt ravings of the “up yours, shithead, motherfucker” variety.

    1987, John Solt, “Japanese Sexual Maledicta”, in Reinhold Aman, editor, The Best of Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression

Origin

  1. Latinmaledicta
  2. Englishmaledicta

From Latin maledicta, plural of maledictum (“curse, insult”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

maledicta. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maledicta

MLA

“maledicta.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maledicta. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maledicta,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maledicta.

Source: maledicta on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.