cussed
cussed Lexical Profile
cussed Game Scores & Validity
• verb
North American To use profane, vulgar, or offensive language; to swear or curse (past tense and past participle of cuss).
"He accidentally hit his thumb with the hammer and cussed under his breath."
• adjective
North American Obstinate, stubborn, or perversely cantankerous (used informally).
"The old mule was too cussed to budge an inch down the muddy trail."
North American Annoying, detestable, or cursed (used informally as an intensifier to express irritation).
"He spent all afternoon trying to fix that cussed lawnmower."
Word Nuance & Usage
Pronunciation varies by part of speech: as the past tense of the verb 'cuss', it is pronounced as one syllable (/kʌst/), whereas as an adjective meaning 'stubborn', it is typically pronounced as two syllables (/ˈkʌs.ɪd/).
Word Origin & Etymology
Emerged in 19th-century American English as a colloquial, non-rhotic alteration of 'cursed', dropping the 'r' sound before 's'.