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Another word for curse

a-z
Noun

  1. A denunciation invoking a wish or threat of evil or injury

    See also:

    words

  2. Something or someone believed to bring bad luck

      1. A person or thing that is believed to bring bad luck.
      2. A condition or period of bad luck that appears to have been caused by a specific person or thing.
      3. To bring bad luck to.
      1. Magic healing and control, especially in African-based folk medicine in the United States and the Caribbean.
      2. A practitioner of hoodoo.
      3. Voodoo.
      1. An evil spell; a curse.
      2. One that brings bad luck.
      3. To put a hex on.
    See also:

    luck

  3. A cause of suffering or harm

      1. Sorrow or grief; misery.
      2. Misfortune or wretchedness:
      3. A cause of sorrow or misery; a misfortune:
      1. A source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation such as that caused by pestilence or war.
      2. A means of inflicting severe suffering, vengeance, or punishment.
      3. A small whip used to inflict punishment.
      1. A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease; a pestilence.
      2. A virulent, infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (syn. Pasteurella pestis ) and is transmitted primarily by the bite of fleas from an infected rodent, especially a rat. In humans it occurs in bubonic form, marked by lymph node enlargement, and in pneumonic form, marked by infection of the lungs, and can progress to septicemia.
      3. A widespread affliction or calamity seen as divine retribution.
      1. Not healthy; sick:
      2. Not normal; unsound:
      3. Resulting in suffering; harmful or distressing:
      1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked:
      2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful:
      3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous:
      1. A cause of harm, ruin, or death:
      2. A source of persistent annoyance or exasperation:
      3. Fatal injury or ruin:
      1. A condition of pain, suffering, or distress:
      2. A cause of pain, suffering, or distress:
    See also:

    help

  4. A profane or obscene term

      1. To curse or curse at.
      2. A curse.
      3. A stubborn or annoying person or animal.
      1. An obscene or blasphemous word.
      1. A solemn, formal declaration or promise to fulfill a pledge, often calling on God, a god, or a sacred object as witness.
      2. The words or formula of such a declaration or promise.
      3. Something declared or promised.
      1. An exclamation or oath, especially one that is profane, vulgar, or obscene.
      2. A word or phrase that does not contribute any meaning but is added only to fill out a sentence or a metrical line.
      3. A word or other grammatical element that has no meaning but is needed to fill a syntactic position, such as the words it and there in the sentences It's raining and There are many books on the table.
      1. A term used to characterize a person or thing, such as rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered dawn or the Great in Catherine the Great.
      2. A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person, such as The Great Emancipator for Abraham Lincoln.
      3. A disparaging or abusive word or phrase.
      1. Contemptuous or profane speech or action concerning God or a sacred entity.
      2. An instance of this.
      3. Irreverent or impious action or expression in regard to something considered inviolable or sacrosanct.
    See also:

    words

    sacred

    decent

Verb

  1. To invoke evil or injury upon

    See also:

    words

  2. To bring bad luck or evil to

      1. A person or thing that is believed to bring bad luck.
      2. A condition or period of bad luck that appears to have been caused by a specific person or thing.
      3. To bring bad luck to.
      1. Magic healing and control, especially in African-based folk medicine in the United States and the Caribbean.
      2. A practitioner of hoodoo.
      3. Voodoo.
      1. An evil spell; a curse.
      2. One that brings bad luck.
      3. To put a hex on.
    See also:

    luck

  3. To bring great harm or suffering to

      1. Infliction of severe physical pain as a means of punishment or coercion.
      2. Excruciating physical or mental pain; agony:
      3. An experience or cause of severe pain or anguish:
      1. Great physical pain or mental anguish.
      2. A source of harassment, annoyance, or pain.
      3. The torture inflicted on prisoners under interrogation.
      1. To hit sharply, as with a hand, fist, weapon, or implement:
      2. To inflict (a blow).
      3. To penetrate or pierce:
      1. To inflict a heavy blow on, with or as if with the hand, a tool, or a weapon.
      2. To drive or strike (a weapon, for example) forcefully onto or into something else.
      3. To attack, damage, or destroy by or as if by blows.
      1. A source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation such as that caused by pestilence or war.
      2. A means of inflicting severe suffering, vengeance, or punishment.
      3. A small whip used to inflict punishment.
      1. A framework or stand in or on which to hold, hang, or display various articles:
      2. A triangular frame for arranging billiard or pool balls at the start of a game.
      3. A receptacle for livestock feed.
      1. A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease; a pestilence.
      2. A virulent, infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (syn. Pasteurella pestis ) and is transmitted primarily by the bite of fleas from an infected rodent, especially a rat. In humans it occurs in bubonic form, marked by lymph node enlargement, and in pneumonic form, marked by infection of the lungs, and can progress to septicemia.
      3. A widespread affliction or calamity seen as divine retribution.
      1. To inflict severe pain on; torture.
      2. To inflict great mental distress on.
      1. Agonizing physical or mental pain; torment.
      2. To cause to feel or suffer anguish.
      3. To feel or suffer anguish.
      1. To suffer mental anguish or worry about something:
      2. To suffer extreme pain:
      3. To cause great pain or anguish to.
      1. To cause grievous physical or mental suffering to.
    See also:

    help

    attack

  4. To use profane or obscene language

      1. To curse or curse at.
      2. A curse.
      3. A stubborn or annoying person or animal.
      1. To make a solemn declaration, invoking a deity or a sacred person or thing, in confirmation of and witness to the honesty or truth of such a declaration.
      2. To make a solemn promise; vow.
      3. To use obscene or blasphemous language; curse.
      1. To condemn to everlasting punishment or another terrible fate in the afterlife; doom:
      2. To condemn to an undesirable fate; destine:
      3. To bring about the failure of; ruin:
      1. To speak of (God or a sacred entity) in an irreverent, impious manner.
      2. To revile; execrate.
      3. To speak blasphemy.
    See also:

    words

    sacred

    decent

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Another word for curse

Noun

  1. Malediction

  2. Trouble or a cause of trouble

      1. A source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation such as that caused by pestilence or war.
      2. A means of inflicting severe suffering, vengeance, or punishment.
      3. A small whip used to inflict punishment.
      1. A condition of pain, suffering, or distress:
      2. A cause of pain, suffering, or distress:
      1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked:
      2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful:
      3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous:
      1. A cause of harm, ruin, or death:
      2. A source of persistent annoyance or exasperation:
      3. Fatal injury or ruin:
    See also:

    blasphemy

    affliction

Verb

  1. To utter curses

  2. To swear at

  3. To pronounce a religious curse

    See also:

    damn

Synonym Study

  • Anathematize strictly refers to the formal utterance of solemn condemnation by ecclesiastical authority, but in general use suggests vehement denunciation of a person or thing viewed as detestable
  • Imprecate suggests the calling down of calamity on someone, esp. from a desire for revenge
  • Execrate suggests cursing prompted by great anger or abhorrence
  • Damn carries the same general meaning but, in strict usage, implies the use of the word ``damn"" in the curse he damned his enemies = he said, ``Damn my enemies!""
  • Curse is the general word for calling down evil or injury on someone or something
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • She didn't look back, but his muffled curse chased after her.

  • His face mottled with anger, he released her with a curse and paced.

  • And yet the curse he'd feared was broken!

  • Her curse was lost as she was sucked into the shadow world.

  • A curse on the lot of them, especially the state of Texas where the roads never end.

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Words that mention curse in the Dictionary

Words near curse in the Thesaurus