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.
  • Regime change isn’t a dirty word when the regime is among the most vicious in the world.
    — Garry Kasparov, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026
  • Too many in the media see conservatism as a dirty word.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 23 Feb. 2026
  • It’s viewed by Hollywood artists as a dirty word.
    — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2026
  • What’s changed is that celebrity is no longer a dirty word in politics.
    — James Hohmann, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2018
  • The man never, never, never says a dirty word.
    — Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Confrontation does not need to be a dirty word if done properly.
    — Joe Carbone, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2022
  • 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
  • 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
  • Recession is a dirty word in the business world, and it’s being tossed around again.
    — David Moin, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Koplitz says a dirty word and Siebold shoots Allen an apologetic look.
    — Trevor Fraser, OrlandoSentinel.com, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Now, free trade is a dirty word for Democrats and Republicans alike.
    — Charles Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 2 Mar. 2021
  • The cleverest crossed out letters from the voting instructions to form dirty words.
    — The Economist, 8 Mar. 2018
  • Herd immunity in the absence of a vaccine soon became a dirty word.
    — David Robertson, STAT, 30 Mar. 2022
  • That's become a dirty word in tech, code for lazily copying the real world in the digital one.
    — David Pierce, WIRED, 13 Jan. 2017
  • Cleaning products certainly shouldn’t be the dirty word of consumerism.
    — Kate Hardcastle, Forbes, 28 May 2022
  • Plastic is a dirty word here, and the resort has virtually banned it throughout.
    — Chris Schalkx, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Jan. 2026
  • With diesel now a dirty word at VW, the brand is suddenly all about EVs.
    — Joe Lorio, Car and Driver, 18 Oct. 2017
  • 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
  • While the Romans loved their baths, bathing became a dirty word for the next several hundred years.
    — Harry Enten, CNN, 14 May 2022
  • Carpenter made no mention of dropping the dirty words during the show's goodnights.
    — Jillian Sederholm, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
  • 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
  • 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
  • For many in the outdoor industry, Amazon has become something of a dirty word.
    — Outside Online, 14 May 2018
  • Ambition is often a dirty word when it is used to describe women and Love is no exception.
    — Lisawhill, Longreads, 9 July 2019
  • And got to Oura and pivoted into software right before that became a little bit of a dirty word.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Aneuploid has always been a dirty word in biology, the defining trait of cells that don’t obey rules and cause problems.
    — Stephen S. Hall, The Cut, 17 Sep. 2017

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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