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fuck

v. · n. · adv.
US //ˈfək// UK //fˈʌk// fuck
  1. 1 to have sex (v.)
    C1 Advanced Vulgar Slang

    to have sexual intercourse with someone.

    to engage in sexual intercourse. Transitive or intransitive; highly vulgar in all contexts.

    Example

    They were caught fucking in the back of the car.

    Example

    The film was censored in several countries because it depicted the protagonists fucking in a graphic and unsimulated manner.
  2. 2 to ruin or cheat (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Vulgar Slang

    to treat someone badly, cheat them, or break something completely.

    to exploit, defraud, or severely damage something or someone. Often used in the passive voice to describe a hopeless situation.

    Example

    The company really fucked its employees by cutting their pensions.

    Example

    If the engine fails while we are in the middle of the desert, we are completely fucked.
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  1. 3 dismissal (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Vulgar Slang

    used to show you do not care about someone or that you are very angry with them.

    used as an imperative to express contemptuous dismissal or extreme hostility toward a person or entity.

    Example

    I'm tired of his excuses, so I told him to fuck off.

    Example

    He decided to just say fuck the consequences and quit his job without having another one lined up.
  2. 4 a person (n.)
    C1 Advanced Vulgar Slang

    an offensive word for a person you dislike or think is stupid.

    a term of contempt for a person, often modified by an adjective like 'dumb' or 'lazy'.

    Example

    Some stupid fuck nearly crashed into my car this morning.

    Example

    He was acting like a total fuck, so nobody wanted to invite him to the party.
  3. 5 care or concern (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Vulgar Slang

    the smallest amount of care or interest, usually used in negative sentences.

    the minimal unit of concern or consideration; almost exclusively used in negative constructions or to indicate apathy.

    Example

    I don't give a fuck what they think about my new haircut.

    Example

    She made it abundantly clear that she didn't give a flying fuck about the committee's recommendations.
  4. 6 emphasis (adv.)
    C1 Advanced Vulgar Slang

    used to make an adjective or a statement much stronger.

    used as an intensifier to add emotional weight to an adjective, adverb, or a 'yes/no' response.

    Example

    That movie was fuckin' amazing.

    Example

    When asked if he wanted to go to the concert, he replied, 'Fuck yes.'
  5. 7 to mess with (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Vulgar Slang

    to interfere with something or try to change it in a bad way.

    to meddle, interfere, or tinker with something, often with negative results. Usually used with the preposition 'with'.

    Example

    Don't fuck with the settings on my computer.

    Example

    The hackers tried to fuck with the internal database, but the security protocols blocked them.
Origin

The word traces from Proto-Indo-European pewǵ- (“to strike, punch, stab”), through Proto-Germanic fukkōną and Old English fuccian, into Middle English fukken by the 13th century. A 772 CE charter notes a place called Fuccerham, possibly “home of the fucker” or “pasture of the fucker”; a John le Fucker appears in 1278, likely a variant of Fulcher, Fucher, or Foker. By 1310, Cheshire court documents refer to Roger Fuckebythenavele, a name that may have been a deliberate provocation or a direct allusion to a depraved act. The word entered dictionaries in 1598, having displaced earlier terms like jape and swive by 1500, its usage uninterrupted since.

The earliest unambiguous sexual use is in the 1310 case, though the term’s northern Germanic/Scandinavian roots are reinforced by earlier Scots attestations of fuk or fuck. Folk-etymologies proposing backronyms such as “fornication under consent of the king” are demonstrably false. The verb’s seventh sense derives from feck, a related term, but the connection remains obscure.

A place name, a legal record, a dictionary entry, and a lexical takeover: fuck endured without scholarly consensus on its earliest meanings, its history marked by ambiguity and utility. The surviving traces include not only the word itself but also the futile efforts of later generations to repackage its origins as something more palatable.

Idioms16 entries

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