swear 1 of 2

verb

ˈswer How to pronounce swear (audio)
Definition of swearnext
1
as in to curse
to use offensive or indecent language no one is allowed to swear in this house

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in to promise
to make a solemn declaration of intent swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

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3
as in to testify
to make a solemn declaration under oath for the purpose of establishing a fact the sworn statement of the witness was presented as evidence

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swear

2 of 2

noun

as in curse
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression can't you express your frustration without using swears?

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of swear
Verb
The league on Monday suspended line judge Jeff Seeman for two games for swearing at Arizona’s Trey McBride and referee Adrian Hill for one game for yelling and gesturing at Minnesota’s Eric Wilson. — ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026 The league on Monday suspended line judge Jeff Seeman for two games for swearing at Arizona's Trey McBride and referee Adrian Hill for one game for yelling and gesturing at Minnesota's Eric Wilson. — CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026
Noun
Kennedy could be heard hurling swears at the Swedish team. — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 23 Feb. 2026 And Boring would be that much closer to its 90,000-rider pinkie-swear. — Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 20 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for swear
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swear
  1. curse
  2. promise
  3. testify
  4. cuss
  5. blaspheme
  6. vow
  7. damn
  8. pledge
Verb
  • Kristian Matsson, who records under the moniker The Tallest Man on Earth, is both blessed and cursed by having arrived nearly fully formed.
    — David Harris, SPIN, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Shunned by locals, who believe she is cursed, Eleni turns to ancient rituals to resurrect her dead offspring but instead summons malevolent folkloric creatures known as the Kalikantzari.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of curse
Verb
  • For a six-month trial, the company promises that participants will not lose pay or jobs because of the trial.
    — Christoph Trattner, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
  • While no service can promise to remove all your data from the internet, a data removal service can monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of promise
Verb
  • Two senior Interior Department officials will testify at another hearing on Monday.
    — Carter Schroppe, The Washington Examiner, 18 Oct. 2026
  • No one who later testified before the grand jury said who first proposed sending settlement money to Hope Florida, but the amount going to the foundation settled at $10 million.
    — Christopher Spata, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of testify
Noun
  • He’d just been followed down a country highway by an angry mob, which screamed cusses and gave him the finger.
    — Chris Smith, Vanity Fair, 11 May 2026
  • My grandmother extended a ladder up into this tough old cuss of a tree and climbed up, at some risk, to pick the bulging fruit.
    — Jim Meddleton, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 2024
Definition of cuss
Verb
  • Rushdie has spent almost 40 years under threat of death from Islamic extremists after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against him, claiming Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses blasphemed Islam and mocked the Prophet Muhammad.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 14 July 2026
  • For his followers, blaspheming the Holocaust and celebrating Hitler became a way to signal contempt for the political religion of postwar liberalism.
    — Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Definition of blaspheme
Verb
  • Florida’s top law enforcement officials vowed Monday to pursue former Cuban leader Raúl Castro for his role in the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes off the island’s coast.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The country's economy minister Roland Lescure has vowed government support for business owners who have suffered losses from the riots.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of vow
Verb
  • Prosecutors assembled thousands of pages of text messages and emails, obtained bank and flight records, gathered corroborating witnesses, and collected video footage of freak-offs and the damning tape of Combs attacking Ventura.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
  • But every season thus far — not only including but especially this one — has concluded as a perverse, whack, and certainly damning portrait of American war games in an era of steep imperial decline.
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of damn
Verb
  • Despite pledging to participate in multiple debates, Becerra brushed aside several invitations, agreeing to just a solitary one-hour face-off against Hilton on CNN in late September.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The attorney general nevertheless pledged to continue preparing the state prosecution and investigating others who may have participated.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of pledge

Browse Nearby Words

sways
swear
swear in
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Cite this Entry

“Swear.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swear. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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