Etymology From Middle English cunte, queynt, queynte, from Old English *cunte, from Proto-West Germanic *kuntā, from Proto-Germanic *kuntǭ. Cognate with West Frisian kunte, Middle Dutch conte (Dutch kont (“butt”)), dialectal Swedish kunta, dialectal Danish kunte, and Icelandic kunta. A relationship to Latin cunnus has not been conclusively shown. Lexicographer Partridge suggests cuneus (“a wedge”).
Literally, Vulgar The female genitalia, especially the vulva.
An' doesn't ter know? Cunt! It's thee down theer; an' what I get when I'm i'side thee, and what tha gets when I'm i'side thee; it's a' as it is, all on't.1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter XII, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC:
Ah! This power-house of human misery and ecstasy, the cunt!1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 1138:
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Blind boys grope out of huge pies, deteriorated schizophrenics pop from a rubber cunt, boys with horrible skin diseases rise from a black pond (sluggish fish nibble yellow turds on the surface).1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 80:
I can smell your cunt.1991, Ted Tally, The Silence of the Lambs (motion picture), spoken by Miggs (Stuart Rudin):
Then there is a drum roll, and I watch open-mouthed as she bends over and produces a string of red cloths from her femininity. "What better way to celebrate 10 years of Camberwell Arts Week than pulling 10 red handkerchiefs out of my cunt?" she asks.2004 June 23, Leo Benedictus, “A bit of hanky panky”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 15 Nov 2023:
I saw the Virgin's cunt spawning forth the snake2014, “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel”, performed by Behemoth:
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Offensive, Vulgar An extremely unpleasant or objectionable person (in US, especially a woman; in Commonwealth more usually a man).
Near-synonyms: bitch; see also Thesaurus:jerk
The taxi driver wisnae amused. He looked a right cunt. Maist ay them do. The stamp-peyin self-employed ur truly the lowest form ay vermin oan god’s earth.1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 5:
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Anne says that the only way she can rebel against her longsuffering hippie parents is by being a homeless, hatemongering, drug-addicted asshole cunt.2002, Jim Goad, Shit Magnet - One Man's Miraculous Ability to Absorb the World's Guilt, page 196:
Vinokur pulled the trigger a second and third time. "You're lying, you Polish cunt!" he screamed.2007, Elazar Barkan, Elizabeth A. Cole, Kai Struve, Shared History, Divided Memory, page 287:
He rails against political correctness and health and safety regulations, and earlier this summer was accused of calling Gordon Brown "a cunt" in unbroadcast comments to his Top Gear audience, whom he has also referred to as "oafs".2009 November 12, Patrick Barkham, “Top Gear: Why We're Mad About the Boys”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 15 Feb 2020:
"Back off cunt or you're getting a face full of death ray! I didn't tell him anything!"2017 October 2, Dave Barrack, Grrl Power (webcomic), Grrl Power #567 – Zero sum shopping:
The lines were up past the frozen food now; people had to cut through to get what they wanted and there was much excuse-me-ing and pardon-me-ing. “This is going to be a cunt,” Norton said morosely, and I frowned a little.1980, Stephen King, The Mist, Viking Press:
Certain situations just cry out for it – keys breaking in the lock, not being able to find the starting point in a roll of sticky-tape, running out of bin-bags. The kind of everyday annoyances that Alanis Morissette would define as irony are actually cunts as far as I’m concerned.2016 July 11, Rachel Braier, “In praise of the C-word”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2018:
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Vulgar A woman or any receptive sexual partner, as a source of potential or actual sexual gratification.
I'm going to hit the clubs and see if I can get me some cunt.
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Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, Positive, Vulgar, With words funny A person (mostly between male friends); compare bastard.
Yes, I do remember Dave; he was one funny cunt.
Tom's a good cunt: he fixed my car and didn't even charge me for it!
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—Happy New Year, ya wee cunt! Franco wrapped his arm around Stevie’s head.1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 41:
Etymology From Middle English cunte, queynt, queynte, from Old English *cunte, from Proto-West Germanic *kuntā, from Proto-Germanic *kuntǭ. Cognate with West Frisian kunte, Middle Dutch conte (Dutch kont (“butt”)), dialectal Swedish kunta, dialectal Danish kunte, and Icelandic kunta. A relationship to Latin cunnus has not been conclusively shown. Lexicographer Partridge suggests cuneus (“a wedge”).
[...] and boy I can hear every word from behind my tree because that plot of hers is close to the road and she's fucking it and she's cunting it and you never heard a woman talking like that, not sober anyway[...]2007, Robert Minhinnick, Sea Holly, Seren Books:
Anyone whom he told to piss off was grateful not to have been cunted instead.2016 September 27, Peter Stothard, The Senecans: Four Men and Margaret Thatcher, Abrams, →ISBN:
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I wanted to provoke something in him so that he would hit me first, so I went over and cunted him off left , right and centre . He was a Scouser - I called him a Scouse cunt.2017 September 21, Chris Heath, quoting Robbie Williams, Reveal: Robbie Williams - As close as you can get to the man behind the Netflix Documentary, Bonnier Publishing Ltd., →ISBN:
Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry was indeed described as "fascist", notably by Pauline Kael, although there is no real evidence that Scorsese's Taxi Driver was "cunted" on first release – on the contrary, despite continuing misgivings about violence, that film was surely widely praised from the very first, getting the Palme d'Or at Cannes.2009 September 23, Peter Bradshaw, “The irony about Nick Love's Outlaw DVD commentary”, in The Guardian:
“I wanted him to leave me alone,” Baby said. “I wasn't actually going to, you know.” “Cunt him?” Theo said. Baby flinched.2022 October 28, Gregory Ashe, A Fault against the Dead, Hodgkin and Blount, →ISBN:
... 'We were going to. Duke gave you the ticket, it was all set. And then you cunted the whole plan, didn't you? You killed the bastard.'2015 September 17, Charles Higson, King Of The Ants, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
“If I'd said things in Russia were cunted, that would mean bad.”2018 July 10, Keith Gessen, A Terrible Country: A Novel, Penguin, →ISBN:
JOE : You cunted me. ROBERT : Language . Not in here . JOE : You lied .2005, Darren Murphy, Tabloid Caligula, Oberon Books:
You cunted us, and I'm gonna make you pay, cos you shit on us Pete.2010 April 3, Richard Perilly, Villains, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 189:
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One of my favourite ever instances of its deployment was at a particularly troublesome roundabout, when a driver of my acquaintance uttered the deathless phrase: “Right: it’s cunt or be cunted.”2017 February 4, Alex Clark, “I'm no pussy when it comes to swearing”, in The Guardian:
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Vulgar To take something into one's vulva or vagina.
How she cunts his finger as if it were a close friend1977, John Harris, Against the Day of the Dead:
I am pushing towards him, against him, yearning to open up against his entire face, to cunt him entirely, to feel the full warm liquid merging1998, Evan Dara, The Lost Scrapbook, University of Alabama Press, →ISBN, page 230:
cunt
adj
Etymology From Middle English cunte, queynt, queynte, from Old English *cunte, from Proto-West Germanic *kuntā, from Proto-Germanic *kuntǭ. Cognate with West Frisian kunte, Middle Dutch conte (Dutch kont (“butt”)), dialectal Swedish kunta, dialectal Danish kunte, and Icelandic kunta. A relationship to Latin cunnus has not been conclusively shown. Lexicographer Partridge suggests cuneus (“a wedge”).
As noted above, "cunt" or "cunty" has evolved in Ballroom parlance to mean exactly what Banks defines it as: feminine and strong.[2022, Lauron J. Kehrer, Queer Voices in Hip Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance, page 59:
Look at her like how can you not say cunt[,] she's cunt2022 December 29, PeachyPlumz (on reddit), in "Symmetra is a ‘gay icon’?", Reddit
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she's so CUNT ... like... how can i not say cunt???2023 May 24, cutehammie (on reddit), in "Trans ally Azealia", r/popheadscirclejerk, Reddit