obscenity

[ uhb-sen-i-tee, -see-ni- ]

noun

, plural ob·scen·i·ties

1. the character or quality of being obscene; indecency; lewdness.
2. something obscene, as a picture or story.
3. an obscene word or expression, especially when used as an invective.

   Synonyms: swear word, profanity, oath, cussword, cuss, curse word, curse

obscenity

/ əbˈsɛnɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or quality of being obscene
2. an obscene act, statement, word, etc

obscenity

1. Behavior, appearance, or expression (such as films and books) that violate accepted standards of sexual morality. American courts have long tried to define obscenity but without much success. Some believe, for example, that any depiction of nudity is obscene; others would argue that nudity in itself is not obscene. ( See four-letter words (see also four-letter words ) and pornography .)

Other Words From

• anti·ob·sceni·ty noun plural antiobscenities adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of obscenity¹

First recorded in 1600–10; from French obscenité, from Latin obscēnitās, equivalent to obscēn(us) obscene + -itās -ity

Example Sentences

In 2015, the village proposed an obscenity law regarding merchandise in store windows.

From Slate

Maybe, he said, if Massry took a photo of people having sex and put it on a shirt, that might violate obscenity laws, “but curse words won’t do it.”

From Slate

She spoke openly about the illness, the drugs she is taking, and her mortality, at times punctuating her comments with an obscenity.

From Los Angeles Times

The opening episodes of “Grotesquerie” do little to reveal the moral bubbling beneath the obscenity.

From Salon

Their deaths have already become part of a new call for a federal strategy to block access to abortion pills, whether through policy changes at the Food and Drug Administration or through the use of the Comstock Act, a 19th-century obscenity law, in a future Republican administration.

From Slate

Related Words

• four-letter word
• indecency
• pornography
• profanity
• smut
• vulgarity