expletive

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: ex=ple=tive

CIDE DICTIONARY

expletive, a. [L. expletivus, from expletus, p. p. of explere to fill up; ex out+plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. explétif. See Full.].

 Filling up; hence, added merely for the purpose of filling up; superfluous.  Hallam.  [1913 Webster]
"Expletive phrases to plump his speech."  [1913 Webster]

expletive, n. 

 A word, letter, or syllable not necessary to the sense, but inserted to fill a vacancy; an oath.  [1913 Webster]
"While explectives their feeble aid to join,
And ten low words oft creep in one dull line."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

expletive, n. & adj.
--n.
1 an oath, swear-word, or other expression, used in an exclamation.
2 a word used to fill out a sentence etc., esp. in verse.
--adj. serving to fill out (esp. a sentence, line of verse, etc.).

Etymology

LL expletivus (as EX-(1), plere plet- fill)

THESAURUS

expletive

battology, bedizenment, blurt, curse, cuss, cuss word, de trop, dirty name, dirty word, dispensable, duplication, duplication of effort, dysphemism, ecphonesis, ejaculation, embellishment, epithet, excess, exclamation, expendable, extravagance, fat, featherbedding, filler, filling, foul invective, frill, frills, frippery, gingerbread, gratuitous, in excess, iterative, luxury, macrology, naughty word, needless, needlessness, no-no, nonessential, oath, obscenity, ornamentation, outburst, overadornment, overlap, padding, payroll padding, pleonasm, pleonastic, profane oath, prolix, prolixity, redundance, redundancy, redundant, reiterative, repetitious, spare, stammering, stuttering, supererogatory, superfluity, superfluous, superfluousness, swear, swearword, tautologic, tautological, tautologism, tautologous, tautology, to spare, uncalled-for, unessential, unnecessariness, unnecessary, unneeded, verbose, verbosity, wordy

ROGET THESAURUS

expletive

Diffuseness

N diffuseness, amplification, dilating, verbosity, verbiage, cloud of words, copia verborum, flow of words, looseness, Polylogy, tautology, battology, perissology, pleonasm, exuberance, redundancy, thrice-told tale, prolixity, circumlocution, ambages, periphrase, periphrasis, roundabout phrases, episode, expletive, pennya-lining, richness, diffuse, profuse, wordy, verbose, largiloquent, copious, exuberant, pleonastic, lengthy, longsome, long-winded, longspun, long drawn out, spun out, protracted, prolix, prosing, maundering, circumlocutory, periphrastic, ambagious, roundabout, digressive, discursive, excursive, loose, rambling episodic, flatulent, frothy, diffusely, at large, in extenso, about it and about it.

Redundancy

N redundancy, redundance, too much, too many, superabundance, superfluity, superfluence, saturation, nimiety, transcendency, exuberance, profuseness, profusion, repletion, enough in all conscience, satis superque, lion's share, more than enough, plethora, engorgement, congestion, load, surfeit, sickener, turgescence, overdose, overmeasure, oversupply, overflow, inundation, avalanche, accumulation, heap, drug, drug in the market, glut, crowd, burden, excess, surplus, overplus, epact, margin, remainder, duplicate, surplusage, expletive, work of supererogation, bonus, bonanza, luxury, intemperance, extravagance, exorbitance, lavishment, pleonasm, too many irons in the fire, embarras de richesses, redundant, too much, too many, exuberant, inordinate, superabundant, excessive, overmuch, replete, profuse, lavish, prodigal, exorbitant, overweening, extravagant, overcharged, supersaturated, drenched, overflowing, running over, running to waste, running down, crammed to overflowing, filled to overflowing, gorged, ready to burst, dropsical, turgid, plethoric, obese, superfluous, unnecessary, needless, supervacaneous, uncalled for, to spare, in excess, over and above, de trop, adscititious, supernumerary, on one's hands, spare, duplicate, supererogatory, expletive, un peu fort, over, too, over and above, overmuch, too much, too far, without measure, beyond measure, out of measure, with a to spare, over head and ears, up to one's eyes, up to one's ears, extra, beyond the mark, acervatim, it never rains but it pours, fortuna multis dat nimium nulli satis, Degree of Subservience, redundancy, redundance, too much, too many, superabundance, superfluity, superfluence, saturation, nimiety, transcendency, exuberance, profuseness, profusion, repletion, enough in all conscience, satis superque, lion's share, more than enough, plethora, engorgement, congestion, load, surfeit, sickener, turgescence, overdose, overmeasure, oversupply, overflow, inundation, avalanche, accumulation, heap, drug, drug in the market, glut, crowd, burden, excess, surplus, overplus, epact, margin, remainder, duplicate, surplusage, expletive, work of supererogation, bonus, bonanza, luxury, intemperance, extravagance, exorbitance, lavishment, pleonasm, too many irons in the fire, embarras de richesses, redundant, too much, too many, exuberant, inordinate, superabundant, excessive, overmuch, replete, profuse, lavish, prodigal, exorbitant, overweening, extravagant, overcharged, supersaturated, drenched, overflowing, running over, running to waste, running down, crammed to overflowing, filled to overflowing, gorged, ready to burst, dropsical, turgid, plethoric, obese, superfluous, unnecessary, needless, supervacaneous, uncalled for, to spare, in excess, over and above, de trop, adscititious, supernumerary, on one's hands, spare, duplicate, supererogatory, expletive, un peu fort, over, too, over and above, overmuch, too much, too far, without measure, beyond measure, out of measure, with a to spare, over head and ears, up to one's eyes, up to one's ears, extra, beyond the mark, acervatim, it never rains but it pours, fortuna multis dat nimium nulli satis, Degree of Subservience.