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taboo
[ tuh-boo, ta- ]
adjective
- proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable:
Taboo language is usually bleeped on TV.
Synonyms: forbidden
Antonyms: permissible, allowed
- prohibited or excluded from use or practice:
In art school, painting from photographs was taboo.
- (among the Polynesians and other peoples of the South Pacific) separated or set apart as sacred; forbidden for general use; placed under a prohibition or ban.
Synonyms: inviolable, sacrosanct
noun
- a prohibition or interdiction of anything; exclusion from use or practice:
One of the strongest taboos in all modern societies is against incest.
Synonyms: no-no, interdiction, embargo, proscription, ban
- (among the Polynesians and other peoples of the South Pacific)
- the system, practice, or act whereby things are set apart as sacred, forbidden for general use, or placed under a prohibition or interdiction.
- the condition of being so set apart, forbidden, or interdicted.
- exclusion from social relations; ostracism.
taboo
/ təˈbuː /
adjective
- forbidden or disapproved of; placed under a social prohibition or ban
taboo words
- (in Polynesia and other islands of the South Pacific) marked off as simultaneously sacred and forbidden
noun
- any prohibition resulting from social or other conventions
- ritual restriction or prohibition, esp of something that is considered holy or unclean
verb
- tr to place under a taboo
taboo
- A descriptive term for words, objects, actions, or people that are forbidden by a group or culture . The expression comes from the religion of islanders of the South Pacific.
Word History and Origins
Origin of taboo1
Word History and Origins
Origin of taboo1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
As Armstrong writes, “It was not a ‘great objective something,’ but had imprecise connotations of obligation and taboo.”
Our culture is becoming more open-minded about previously taboo subjects.
Millions of us are gay, and yet what gay people do in bed remains taboo—almost never discussed—so what is the truth about gay sex?
Everything was on the table, the promos said; no subjects were taboo.
Lingerie—once so scandalous, erotic—was worse than taboo, it was passé.
Taboo survivals act dysgenically within the family under present conditions.
There were no home-books to be signed by governesses: there was no longer any taboo upon the revelation of Christian names.
The savage was afraid to utter the real name of his god, it was taboo.
The cow is taboo to the Hindus, the pig is taboo to the Mohammedans and to the Jews.
Breach of taboo rendered not only the individual lawbreaker but the whole tribe, however innocent, liable to punishment.
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