Word.ws English Dictionary

four-letter word

four-letter word noun: a reference to any of several of the strongest English swear words that are also four letters long, especially those composing the so-called seven dirty words.

Noun

four-letter word (plural four-letter words)

  1. A reference to any of several of the strongest English swear words that are also four letters long, especially those composing the so-called seven dirty words.
    • Good authors, too, who once knew better words / Now only use four-letter words1934, Cole Porter, “Anything Goes”, in Anything Goes
    • Words can make you pay and pay / Four-letter words I cannot say1981, “Wordy Rappinghood”, performed by Tom Tom Club
  2. (broadly) A swear word or any words considered to be taboo in a given scenario (regardless of length of word).
    • People say that you were born lazy / because you think that work is four-letter word1968, “Work Is a Four-Letter Word”, performed by Cilla Black
    • To me, coming from you, 'Friend' is a four letter word1996, “Friend Is a Four-Letter Word”, in Fashion Nugget, performed by Cake

Forms of four-letter word

pluralfour-letter words

Origin of four-letter word

From the frequency of the most common swear words being composed of or spelt with four letters.

Questions about four-letter word

What does four-letter word mean?
Four-letter word means a reference to any of several of the strongest English swear words that are also four letters long, especially those composing the so-called seven dirty words.
What part of speech is four-letter word?
Four-letter word is a noun.
What is the plural of four-letter word?
The plural of four-letter word is four-letter words.

Words near four-letter word in the dictionary

  1. four-legged friend
  2. four-legged friends
  3. four-leggeds
  4. four-letter
  5. four-letter man
  6. four-letter word
  7. four-letter words
  8. four-lined wave
  9. four-lined waves
  10. four-master
  11. four-masters

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: four-letter 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: “four-letter word.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/four-letter_word. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.