Medieval insults reveal a fascinating glimpse into the sharp wit and social dynamics of the Middle Ages. These cutting terms, often steeped in class distinctions and cultural values, were not just tools for personal attacks but also reflections of the era’s humour and societal norms. Many of these insults appear in medieval literature and even court records, offering insights into how people expressed disdain, challenged rivals, or maintained social hierarchies. This list explores some of the most vivid insults from the medieval period.
1. Churl
In his book, An Encyclopedia of Swearing, Geoffrey Hughes explains the history of this term:
This designation was used in medieval times to refer to “low-class” language, predicated on the assumption that bad language was more prevalent among the lower orders. The Anglo-Saxon form ceorl meant “a peasant or laborer,” and has yielded the modern form churl, meaning “a surly, ill-bred person,” now virtually obsolete, chiefly surviving in churlish, meaning “ungenerous,” applied to a man of any class.
Like with many words on this list, the term is well-known thanks to the writings of Geoffrey Chaucer. He used “churls” to great effect in The Canterbury Tales, where his narrator calls out two of the pilgrims – the miller and the reeve – for being ‘cherles’.
2. Knave
Originally coming from the Old English word ‘cnafa’, this word meant boy, and throughout the Middle Ages ‘knave child’ was common way for referring to boys in England. However, by the 14th century, it began to be seen as an insult, specifically for calling someone dishonest. It wasn’t a term that people liked to be called either, as can be seen in the records from a 15th century guild: “If any Brother despise another, calling him knave” it would lead to a punishment.
3. Turd
“Ande I haue schetun yowr mowth full of turdys.” – this particular line appears in the play Mankind, created around the year 1470. The word ‘turd’ dates back to around the year 1000, where it was used to describe the excrement of a pig. According to Hughes, the word was used as an insult from the 15th to 17th centuries, then disappeared from the English language until the early 20th century, when it made a small comeback.
4. Hag
While the term “hag” is often associated with witches today, in medieval England it was used more broadly to insult someone’s appearance or age. A famous example comes from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where Gawain encounters Morgan le Fay, described in terms that could easily inspire the insult “hag.” Such language reflected the harsh societal judgments of aging women.
5. Cur
Throughout history, variations of the word “dog” have been used as insults. Cur is one of these. It dates back to the 13th century, and gradually became an insult. Hughes writes:
In Middle English the term could be used of a good, vicious, or cowardly dog, and there was even a curious tautological form curdogge, meaning “the Devil.” The Book of St. Albans (ca. 1486), that rich compilation of ingenious collective nouns, includes “a cowardness of curris.”
By the 16th century it was a common insult, as would other names for dogs, including hound, mongrel and tyke.
6. Dastard
Calling someone a “dastard” accused them of cowardice—an insult with grave implications in an age when honour was paramount. It was a term bestowed upon James Fiennes, Baron Saye and Sele and Lord High Treasurer of England from 1449 to 1450 – it was his ineptness at war and misgovernment of England that lead the rebels under Jack Cade to coin him “that dastard of renown’. They also beheaded him.
7. Driveller
The word ‘drivel’ dates back to at least the early 13th century. By the 16th century it was an insult to call someone a ‘driveller’ – a person who spouts meaningless chatter.
8. Scold
“The word has a strange history,” Hughes notes. ” having originally been a noun and male in application, then throughout most of its life exclusively female, but recently generalized as a verb.” It comes from the Old Norse word skald, which means poet (Norse poetry could be quite satirical and insulting). When we see it in 14th-century England, however, it is usually applied to women who are accused of using abusive language. Hughes adds that it was used in legal jargon to denote a woman who was a public nuisance: it is first recorded in 1476, when a court document announced that “Eadem Katerina est communis scolde” (“the formentioned Katherine is a common scold”).
9. Cuckold
Hughes explains that this term traces its roots to the cuckoo bird, known for its habit of laying eggs in other birds’ nests and its association with promiscuity. This connection to infidelity is deeply embedded in medieval folklore, art, and literature. The word’s earlier form, kukewold, entered English from Old French cuccault, itself derived from cuccu (cuckoo) with the addition of the pejorative suffix -ault. It makes its earliest recorded appearance around 1250 in the satirical poem The Owl and the Nightingale. By the 15th century, the term’s bluntness was notable, as seen in John Lydgate’s Fall of Princes: “To speke plaine Englishe, made him cokolde.”
10. Shrew
The Old English word ‘screaw’ originally meant a mouse-like creature, but by the thirteenth century it evolved to mean a wicked or evil man, and sometimes was used to refer to the Devil. However, according to Hughes, a familiar writer switched it to refer to another gender:
The feminine application starts to emerge in the lifetime of Geoffrey Chaucer, memorably used by the Merchant of the Canterbury Tales when he ruefully describes his newly married wife: “She is a shrewe at al”.
By the 16th century, this term became firmly established in popular vocabulary through Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew.
You can learn more about these insults in Geoffrey Hughes’ book, An Encyclopedia of Swearing: The Social History of Oaths, Profanity, Foul Language, and Ethnic Slurs in the English-speaking world. See also 300+ Dirty, Sexy Words for Historical Writers, by Danièle Cybulskie.
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