obscenity
noun
Forms obscenities
- noun (countable) Something that is obscene. “Martha wouldn't go into the art museum because, as she put it, "They have obscenities just sitting out, on display!"”
- noun (countable) An act of obscene behaviour. “Bestiality was outlawed as an obscenity in the strongly conservative community.”
- noun (countable) Specifically, an offensive word; a profanity; a dirty word. “Eliza couldn't stand her daughter's music; as she saw it, it was just shouted obscenities and a heavy drum beat.”
- noun (uncountable) Lewdness, indecency, or offensive behaviour or material. “The coalition of religious conservatives was campaigning against, in their view, rampant obscenity in the entertainment industry.”
- noun (uncountable) The fact of being obscene.
Synonyms
lewdness bawdiness salaciousness salacity smut vulgarism filth dirty word
Etymology
From obscene + -ity, from Latin obscenitas.
Webster’s 1913
- noun That quality in words or things which presents what is offensive to chasity or purity of mind; obscene or impure lanquage or acts; moral impurity; lewdness; obsceneness; as, the obscenity of a speech, or a picture.
Etymology [L. obscentias: cf.F. obscénité.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “obscenity”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details