bloody1
adjective/ˈblʌdi/
/ˈblʌdi/
[only before noun] adverb (British English, offensive, slang)Idioms - a swear word that many people find offensive that is used to emphasize a comment or an angry statement
- Don't be such a bloody fool.
- That was a bloody good meal!
- What bloody awful weather!
- She did bloody well to win that race.
- He doesn't bloody care about anybody else.
- ‘Will you apologize?’ ‘Not bloody likely!’ (= Certainly not!)
- The rail strike is a bloody nuisance.
- I can’t get this bloody stupid thing to work.
- What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?
Oxford Collocations DictionaryBloody is used with these nouns:- battle
- clash
- confrontation
- …
Word Originmid 17th cent.: from bloody2. The use of bloody to add emphasis to an expression is of uncertain origin, but is thought to have a connection with the “bloods” (aristocratic rowdies) of the late 17th and early 18th centuries; hence the phrase bloody drunk (= as drunk as a blood) meant “very drunk indeed”. After the mid 18th cent. until quite recently bloody used as a swear word was regarded as unprintable, probably from the mistaken belief that it implied a blasphemous reference to the blood of Christ, or that the word was an alteration of “by Our Lady”; hence a widespread caution in using the term even in phrases, such as bloody battle, merely referring to bloodshed.
Idioms
See bloody in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarybloody well
- (British English, offensive, slang) used to emphasize an angry statement or an order
- You can bloody well keep your job—I don't want it!
- ‘I’m not coming.’ ‘Yes, you bloody well are!’
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bloody1