29 of  the most gross-sounding

29 of the most gross-sounding words in the English language

There’s one word that is considered the most gross-sounding English word, gross-word poll after gross-word poll. There are 28 others that come pretty close, though. Which is your worst?

29 of  the most gross-sounding

In order for a word to sound truly objectionable, it should contain phonetically abrasive letters like ‘g’, ‘b’, ‘m’, ‘u’ and ‘o’. Although, a word like ‘bogus’ doesn’t appear to contain the same repulsive qualities as a word like ‘bulbous’, which admit it, just made you throw up a little bit in your mouth.

The combination of letters is one thing, but the image a word creates in your mind is as powerful, if not more so. Case in point: vomit. Or maggot. Or [insert least favourite politician].

Here’s a list of the words that get most under the skin of the general, reading, English-speaking public:

  1. Moist
  2. Blog
  3. Lugubrious
  4. Yolk
  5. Gurgle
  6. Phlegm
  7. Fetus
  8. Curd
  9. Smear
  10. Squirt
  11. Chunky
  12. Orifice
  13. Maggots
  14. Viscous
  15. Queasy
  16. Bulbous
  17. Pustule
  18. Fester
  19. Secrete
  20. Munch
  21. Panties
  22. Clogged
  23. Vomit
  24. Jowls
  25. Dripping
  26. Roaches
  27. Mucus
  28. Slacks
  29. Slurp

A gross-word investigator, Nico Lang, when looking for the most repulsive English sentence, with the help of the public and some intense web-related research, came up with this: ‘While still in my panties, I vomited from my jowls a chunky curd of phlegm that was dripping with roaches, maggots, and mucus and gurgled a moist egg yolk while I blogged about it.’

There you have it.

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