Word.ws English Dictionary

a-words

a-words is the plural of a-word.

Meaning of a-word

Noun

a-word (plural a-words)

  1. (euphemistic) A bad word that starts with the letter a, such as ass/arse or asshole/arsehole.
  2. (euphemistic) The word alleluia, typically in the context of Lent since the Lenten liturgies of various Christian churches omit the alleluia.
    • It was Lent; “alleluia” is not sung in the Catholic church during Lent. I told her Babloo liked songs with the “A-word.”2008, Mary Poplin, Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service, →ISBN, page 71
  3. Any word beginning with a that is not normally taboo but is considered (often humorously) to be so in the given context.
    • Most of the candidates have skirted the AIDS issue as much as possible, mentioning the "A word" only when asked a direct question.1988 February 21, Chris Bull, “Pressing the Candidates On AIDS”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 31, page 11

Questions about a-words

What is a-words the plural of?
A-words is the plural of a-word.

Words near a-words in the dictionary

  1. A-V
  2. a-vie
  3. a-wheel
  4. a-women
  5. a-word
  6. a-words
  7. a.
  8. A. & M.
  9. A. & R.
  10. A. and M.
  11. A. B. C.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a-words (page history and authors); a-word (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “a-words.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/a-words. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.