Link Centre Dictionary

swear

UK/ˈswɛə(ɹ)/ US/ˈswɛɚ/ very common

verb

1.

utter obscenities or profanities

  • “The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street”
Synonyms
2.

to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true

  • “Before God I swear I am innocent”
Synonyms
3.
4.
5.

have confidence or faith in

  • “We can trust in God”
  • “Rely on your friends”
  • “bank on your good education”
  • “I swear by my grandmother”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English sweren, swerien, from Old English swerian (“to swear, take an oath of office”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarjan, from Proto-Germanic *swarjaną (“to speak, swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to swear”). Cognate with West Frisian swarre (“to swear”), Saterland Frisian swera (“to swear”), Dutch zweren (“to swear, vow”), Low German swören (“to swear”), sweren, German schwören (“to swear”), Danish sværge, Swedish svära (“to swear”), Icelandic sverja (“to swear”), Russian свара (svara, “quarrel”). Also cognate to Albanian var (“to hang, consider, to depend from”) through Proto-Indo-European. The original sense in all Germanic languages is “to take an oath”. The sense “to use bad language” developed in Middle English and is based on the Christian prohibition against swearing in general (cf. Matthew 5:33-37) and invoking God’s name in particular (i.e. frequent swearing was considered similar to the use of obscene words).

Phrases

  • could have sworn
  • cuss up a blue streak
  • I swear
  • pardon my French
  • pinky swear
  • potty mouth
  • say you swear
  • swear at
  • swear blind
  • swear by
  • swear down
  • swear word

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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See also

Related verbs

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.