epithet

Pluralepithets

1. 1
   insultnouncountable

   A rude, insulting word or name used to hurt someone.

   Someone yelled an ugly epithet at the players as they left the field.

   On the bus, a man shouted epithets at a woman until the driver made him get off.

   UsageSay someone used a racial epithet.

   Similarslur, insult

   Note
2. 2
   nouncountable

   A word or phrase describing someone or something, often added to or replacing a name, like 'the Great' in Alexander the Great.

   'Brave' was the epithet most people used for the young firefighter.

   The critic praised the singer with epithets like 'golden' and 'fearless.'

   Similarlabel, nickname, title, sobriquet, descriptor

   Note
3. 3
   scientific namenouncountable

   In the scientific names of plants, fungi, and bacteria, a word that comes after the genus or species name.

   The new fern's epithet comes from the name of the valley where it was found.

   Many plant epithets describe a color, like a Latin word for 'white.'

   Note

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