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bloody

UK/ˈblʌ.di/ US/ˈblɜ.ɖiː/ very common informal uk
adjective (2) adverb (1) verb (1)

adjective

1.

having or covered with or accompanied by blood

  • “a bloody nose”
  • “your scarf is all bloody”
  • “the effects will be violent and probably bloody”
  • “a bloody fight”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

(used of persons) informal intensifiers

  • “what a bally (or blinking) nuisance”
  • “a bloody fool”
  • “a crashing bore”
  • “you flaming idiot”
Synonyms
Similar

adverb

1.

extremely

  • “you are bloody right”
  • “Why are you so all-fired aggressive?”
Synonyms

verb

1.

cover with blood

  • “bloody your hands”

Origin

From Middle English blody, blodi, from Old English blōdiġ, blōdeġ (“bloody”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdag, from Proto-Germanic *blōþagaz (“bloody”), equivalent to blood + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bläidich, blöidig, blouderch (“bloody”), West Frisian bloedich (“bloody”), Dutch bloedig (“bloody”), German Low German blödig (“bloody”), German blutig (“bloody”), Danish blodig (“bloody”), Swedish blodig (“bloody”), Faroese blóðigur (“bloody”), Icelandic blóðugur (“bloody”). See Wikipedia for thoughts on sense evolution.

Phrases

  • bloody 'ell
  • bloody back
  • Bloody Caesar
  • Bloody Code
  • bloody dock
  • bloody flux
  • bloody heck
  • bloody hell

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.