Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Vulgar Slang The vulva.
- noun Used as a disparaging term for a woman.
- noun Used as a disparaging term for a person one dislikes or finds extremely disagreeable.
- noun Vulgar Slang Sexual intercourse with a woman.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun vulgar slang The female pudenda; specifically the vagina.
- noun A woman; -- usually used derogatorily and considered obscene.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun vulgar, colloquial, countable The female
genitalia , especially thevulva . - noun vulgar, offensive, colloquial, countable An extremely
unpleasant orobjectionable person (in US, especially a woman; in UK or Ireland, more usually a man). - noun UK, New Zealand, vulgar, colloquial, countable An
objectionable object or item. - noun UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, vulgar, colloquial An
unpleasant ordifficult experience or incident. - noun vulgar, colloquial, countable and uncountable A
woman ,women , orbottom as a source ofsex . - noun Australia, New Zealand, UK, vulgar, colloquial, countable A person (mostly between male friends); compare
bastard .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun obscene terms for female genitals
- noun a person (usually but not necessarily a woman) who is thoroughly disliked
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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While I realized I hold distinctly different views on the world from most of the people there I would also have to say that I am aghast that they'd use the word "slut" or that they would wonder why there is such a strong reaction to the term cunt or slut.
Bread n Roses poster: Bev Oda is a slut Suzanne 2006
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I want books with the word cunt as well as the word kike.
TalkTalk E. L. Konigsburg 1995
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I want books with the word cunt as well as the word kike.
TalkTalk E. L. Konigsburg 1995
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Sure, all of the “educated”, “middle class” “Guardian” “readers” who pat themselves on the back because they ‘get’ Chris Morris, think that the word cunt is a non-issue and probably deal with the word in a ‘been there, done that’ detachedness.
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A Flynt apologist could probably wiggle away from the sexism of the word cunt; harder to excuse was Flynt's preposterous suggestion that Sandra Day O'Connor's appointment was meritless, an empty gesture of political correctness.
Slate Articles Amanda Marcotte 2011
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In my (Highland) experience, then, 'cunt' is more likely to be used as a general obscenity - on hurting oneself, etc. - by women, or as a comment on particular behaviour as above.
On Profanity: 3 Hal Duncan 2009
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How the fuck we PAY for the ugly cunt is beyond me.
Face Transplant Man: "I'm Still Bloody Ugly" Dungeekin 2009
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Trying to picture a literally “pendulous” cunt is quite amusing.
Matthew Yglesias » Who’s “Ideological” in the Health Care Debate? 2009
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A man who walked out on his injured wife and their kids for his billionaire mistress - whom he calls a cunt, publicly.
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So Jane Fonda says the word cunt on the Today Show.
pathar commented on the word cunt
I like that this is one of the last few words in the language that can really shock people.
December 4, 2006
seanahan commented on the word cunt
Good note Pathar. I can't think of a word in the English language which is more shocking, or offensive.
December 4, 2006
jrsperry commented on the word cunt
What a fantastic, descriptive word. I don't get to use it very often, but it is an absolute pleasure when I do.
December 7, 2006
stpeter commented on the word cunt
Yet this shocking word is cognate with quaint. Odd, eh?
December 9, 2006
verbiwhore commented on the word cunt
Definitely one of my favorite words. Even today, where words that were once considered taboo and deeply offensive are used, in many instances, in our day to day language, the word cunt has managed to retain its shock value, and can still illicit a very visceral reaction.
June 13, 2007
deliriumslibrarian commented on the word cunt
Not only quaint, but also kind and kenning - the roots give new meaning to the branches.
June 15, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word cunt
Also related to coney or cunny.
September 18, 2007
lalala commented on the word cunt
I find the notion that the word 'cunt' is considered offensive bizarre. Cunts are warm, deep & delightful - you should only call someone a cunt if they have these characteristics.
November 3, 2007
kewpid commented on the word cunt
Not a listener of the Savage Lovecast are you lalala?
November 3, 2007
muamor commented on the word cunt
Sweetest taboo? Maybe English speaking world just doesn't know how to use the word imaginatively, like for example the Italians use figa. Or The Spanish use coño. Not to mention The Finns and their favourite word, the v-word vittu.
Other variations: cunte, counte, Middle English; kut, The Netherlands; kunta, Old Norse; queynthe Middle English; qwim, sixteenth century England; chuint, Ireland; kus, Arabic & Hebrew.
Some etymologists think it derives from words, queen, country or cunning - cunnende. What it comes to the root, cu, it is said to signify 'quintessential physical femininity´.
Catherine Blackledge: The story of V.
March 6, 2008
skipvia commented on the word cunt
See also coynte.
March 6, 2008
yarb commented on the word cunt
And all their damn fool questions 'tell me Peter,
what do you write about?' (cunts like you, mate)...
- Peter Reading, Soirée, from The Prison Cell & Barrel Mystery, 1976
June 23, 2008
rolig commented on the word cunt
The Slovene equivalent of this word, pizda, is used on a daily basis, far more than the common word for the male organ, kurec. Everyone says "pizda", even sometimes on television. It serves the same purpose as the American "fuck" or "shit" in sentences like, "Oh fuck, I forgot my keys!" Even women say "pizda" without batting an eye. I was shocked when I first moved here because I kept translating the word in my head, but now I'm used to it, though I never say it myself.
June 23, 2008
BrainyBabe commented on the word cunt
"Cun" is a word in a southern French dialect, possibly Occitan, which means "wedge", as in the ancient mechanical tool still in use today to split things. The wedge shape is triangular (and the downward facing equilateral triangle has been used for millenia as shorthand for the female genitalia, and by extension, some would say, the goddess -- see Marija Gimbutas and Old Europe) and the function of the wedge is to transform. A pretty good description of a cunt, no?
December 29, 2008
BrainyBabe commented on the word cunt
Graham Norton is a chat show host in Britain, charming, camp, outrageous, with a late night programme laced with sexuality, not mere innuendo. An American guest expressed surprise on air at what British presenters could get away with. "I even hear people say "fuck" and the editors don't bleep it. Is there any word you're not allowed to use?" Without missing a beat, Norton replied, "Cunt".
December 29, 2008
BrainyBabe commented on the word cunt
C U next Tuesday -- the title of a recent book on "bad" language.
December 29, 2008
qroqqa commented on the word cunt
For the record, not related to 'quaint': that was a pun by mediaeval writers. Nor, pace Catherine Blackledge quoted below, could any etymologist connect it with the Romance 'country'. The word is in fact of completely unknown etymology, its only known relation being Norse kunta.
It cannot be related to Latin cunnus of same meaning, as in 'cunnilingus', since that violates Grimm's Law: Latin k would match Germanic h, whereas Germanic k would match Latin g. If it was an early borrowing from Latin into Germanic, so that Grimm's Law didn't have to apply, where would the t come from?
It is possible, as an idle speculation, that it's related to the Indo-European "woman" word (queen, Venus, gyne-) or to the "know" word (know, kin, kind, king, cunning), but not both. There is no evidence for any such connexion except resemblance, probably just chance resemblance.
March 8, 2009
garyth123 commented on the word cunt
In 2008 BBC4 screened a film which told the story of Mrs Mary Whitehouse (a campaigner against 'filth' on TV etc). The film had a couple of good jokes that were meant to suggest that Mrs Whitehouse was obsessed (perhaps neurotically) with sex. One of these was that her original name for her organistaion was—clean up national TV.
March 8, 2009
glazomaniac commented on the word cunt
The English language word that will continue to shock, I think, even when cunt has lost its power, is the despicable n-word in the mouth of a white American.
April 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cunt
one of Chaucer's spelling variations for it was kent.
May 2, 2009
gangerh commented on the word cunt
I was born in Kent.
May 3, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cunt
weren't we all.
(except for Macduff)
May 3, 2009
plethora commented on the word cunt
Ha!
May 3, 2009
easysez commented on the word cunt
when spoken out loud , leave the area
May 4, 2009
michaelchang commented on the word cunt
A friend of mine engaged in a play called the vagina monologues, found out that the word cunt according to William Shakespeare derive from getting intimately acquainted.
July 1, 2009
likeflannel commented on the word cunt
"A friend of mine engaged in a play called the vagina monologues, found out that the word cunt according to William Shakespeare derive from getting intimately acquainted."
oh my gosh, YES!
I saw the vagina monologues this year on my birthday, my all-time favourite part.
loved it.
July 1, 2009
transcendancing commented on the word cunt
"While one word maketh not a women-centered language, "cunt" is certainly mighty potent and versatile contribution. Not to mention how deliciously satisfying it is to totally snag a reviled word and elevate it to a status which all women should rightfully experience in this society." - Inga Muscio from 'Cunt: A Declaration of Independence'
March 23, 2010
pawciopp commented on the word cunt
it sounds the same-like-can't.....
November 25, 2010
Ed_Jogg commented on the word cunt
For a titillating, yet scholarly study of cunt (the word :-) ), check .....
Hal Duncan's Notes from the Geek Show: Cunt blog
Well, I was titillated...... in a very scholarly way, of course. :-)
February 10, 2011
Prolagus commented on the word cunt
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomgauld/5753689867/in/photostream
February 28, 2012