How to Use dirty word in a Sentence

dirty word

noun
  • The movie is just a lot of sex, violence, and dirty words.
  • The way he acts, you'd think compassion was a dirty word.
  • They regard “taxes” as a dirty word.
  • That’s not a dirty word, just a reminder to be careful.
    Chuck Jaffe, The Seattle Times, 1 Sep. 2017
  • With diesel now a dirty word at VW, the brand is suddenly all about EVs.
    Joe Lorio, Car and Driver, 18 Oct. 2017
  • In the Arab world, politics has long been a dirty word, or a death sentence.
    Kim Ghattas, The Atlantic, 1 May 2021
  • Compromise, once seen as a strength, is a dirty word on both sides of the national aisle.
    Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 8 Sep. 2017
  • What’s changed is that celebrity is no longer a dirty word in politics.
    James Hohmann, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2018
  • Body spray is no longer a dirty word, thanks to these perfect post-gym (or any time) concoctions.
    Christian Gollayan, Men's Health, 22 Nov. 2022
  • The dirtiest word in baseball, arguably, isn't the one that Crash Davis used to get ejected from a game in Bull Durham.
    Jeff Wilson, star-telegram, 19 Mar. 2018
  • Koplitz says a dirty word and Siebold shoots Allen an apologetic look.
    Trevor Fraser, OrlandoSentinel.com, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Unhappy is not a dirty word One of my favorite Friends episodes is the one in which Phoebe brings a date to a wedding party.
    Emma Firth, Vogue, 14 Nov. 2023
  • While the Romans loved their baths, bathing became a dirty word for the next several hundred years.
    Harry Enten, CNN, 14 May 2022
  • The cleverest crossed out letters from the voting instructions to form dirty words.
    The Economist, 8 Mar. 2018
  • Stubborn is just a dirty word for driven, and driven people get things done.
    Brendan Leonard, Outside Online, 12 June 2018
  • Compromise doesn’t have to be a dirty word in politics.
    Mercury News & East Bay Times Editorial Boards, The Mercury News, 25 June 2019
  • Confrontation does not need to be a dirty word if done properly.
    Joe Carbone, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2022
  • While pretentiousness might be a dirty word for a lot of British people, wouldn’t life be dull without it?
    Daisy Jones, Vogue, 26 Jan. 2023
  • Ambition can feel like a dirty word in the era of quiet quitting and the Great Resignation.
    Jamie Ducharme, Time, 25 Oct. 2022
  • Indeed, there are players in the Dodgers clubhouse who avoid uttering that dirty word: Padres.
    Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2023
  • And McBride catches his son highlighting all the dirty words in the Bible, which boys in my Christian elementary school loved to do.
    Emily Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, 19 Aug. 2019
  • Herd immunity in the absence of a vaccine soon became a dirty word.
    David Robertson, STAT, 30 Mar. 2022
  • For many in the outdoor industry, Amazon has become something of a dirty word.
    Outside Online, 14 May 2018
  • But if fusion’s become something of a dirty word, and New American is falling out of vogue, where does that leave us?
    Navneet Alang, Bon Appétit, 6 Mar. 2023
  • For some eco-activists with an eye trained toward a bigger picture, cleanup has become something of a dirty word.
    Tovah Martin, Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2023
  • Aging has become something of a dirty word in our society.
    Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2018
  • Cleaning products certainly shouldn’t be the dirty word of consumerism.
    Kate Hardcastle, Forbes, 28 May 2022
  • Disruption, once the mantra of Silicon Valley, has now become a dirty word.
    New York Times, 16 July 2021
  • In many ways, geology has become a bit of a dirty word with its close link to resource extraction.
    Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 4 Jan. 2021
  • In an industry where aging is treated like a dirty word, Sophie Carbonari likes to curse.
    Caitlin Raux Gunther, Harper's BAZAAR, 21 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dirty word.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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