How-To

How to add swear words to iPhone

If you want your iPhone to stop messing up your swear words, you have options.

by
Joe Rice-Jones
June 23, 2022

Image: KnowTechie

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Autocorrect on smart devices is great for hard-to-spell words or quick typing when you’re not really paying attention to where you’re tapping.

But swear words are another story. That’s why you need to know how to add swear words to iPhone.

Spelling out swear words, especially iOS, can be a huge pain in the ~~add~~ ass. But, you actually have a couple of different options when it comes to typing out swear words on your iPhone and iPad.

Thanks to your iOS device’s penchant for suggesting your contacts list in the autocorrect space, you can hack your iPhone to swear happily without having to laboriously type out each seedy word letter by letter.

How to add swear words to iPhone

Tap the Phone app and then the Contacts tab on your iPhone or iPad

Add a new contact, then fill in the name fields with your favorite swear words.

ios contact create with swear words as name fields

Save the contact

That’s it. Now your iOS devices will stop autocorrecting your favorite swear words while you’re texting your friends.

Use text replacement to add swear words to iPhone and iPad

There’s also another, possibly better way to broaden your iPhone’s vocabulary. Did you know you could set text replacements? Here’s how.

Open the Settings app

Image: KnowTechie

Tap on General

screenshot of ios settings showing the general menu item — Image: KnowTechie

Then, tap on Keyboard

screenshot of keyboard setting menu on ios — Image: KnowTechie

Tap on Text Replacement

screenshot of text replacement menu item on ios — Image: KnowTechie

Tap the + button in the top right corner

screenshot of text replacement menu on ios — Image: KnowTechie

Add all the vulgar or irreverent words you want. You can also add shortcuts, like if you never want to see the word “ducking” again.

screenshot of adding a text replacement on ios — Image: KnowTechie

READ MORE: How to edit iMessages in iOS 16

Once you’ve tapped on Save, your dictionary is ready. You could also turn off Auto Correction, but we don’t recommend this. You’ll be far more frustrated by having to type everything properly.

Now your iOS device will automatically suggest the swear words you saved because it thinks that they are Contact names instead of vulgar words. You’re welcome, have a great ducking day.

And while you’re at it, if you have any more time to spare, check out our guide on how to customize app icons on your iPhone.

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