bugger
What does “bugger” mean in English?
It can be an insult, a term of endearment, or an expression of frustration. While it has a stronger sexual connotation in some contexts, it’s often used more casually in everyday speech.
In British and Commonwealth English, it serves a similar purpose to 'bastard' or 'bloody hell' depending on the context, and can be aimed at someone or used as an exclamation.
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Related English words
bugger off
3/5 · VulgarIt's a rude way to tell someone to go away. Think of it as a more colorful version of 'get lost.'
bollocks
3/5 · VulgarIt refers to nonsense or something that doesn't make sense, and can also be used as an exclamation of frustration. Literally, it means testicles.
cock
3/5 · VulgarThis is a slang term for penis and can also be used as an insult. In some contexts, it refers to a male bird, but that's not the common use here.
dick
3/5 · VulgarIt's a slang term for penis but is often used to insult someone who is being obnoxious or annoying.
About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via 4troDev/profanity.csv, Viddexa SafeText, FlacSy/BadWords (MIT, MIT AND CC-BY-4.0). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.