Standard Lemma guide

indecent

adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪnˈdiːs(ə)nt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /ɪnˈdi.sənt/
  • Texas: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ɪnˈdiː.sənt/
  • Australian: [ɪnˈdɪi.sənt] cultivated
  • Australian, general: [ɪnˈdɪ̈i.sənt]
  • New-Zealand: /ənˈdiː.sənt/
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N D IY1 S AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Offensive to good taste.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • indecent comment
  • indecent videos

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: distasteful, in bad taste, in poor taste, offensive, earthy

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Not in keeping with conventional moral values; improper, immodest, or unseemly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: immodest, immoral, improper, unseemly

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Generally unacceptable for public broadcasting but not legally obscene.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: criminal law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

offensive to good taste especially in sexual matters

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an earthy but not indecent story
  • an indecent gesture

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: decent

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

offending against sexual mores in conduct or appearance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a bathing suit considered indecent by local standards

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • was buried with indecent haste
  • indecorous behavior
  • language unbecoming to a lady
  • unseemly to use profanity
  • moved to curb their untoward ribaldry

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: indecorous, unbecoming, uncomely, unseemly, untoward

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From in- + decent.

Across languages

Translations

68 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: ədəbsiz — offensive to good taste
  • Azerbaijani: həyasız — offensive to good taste
  • Azerbaijani: nalayiq — offensive to good taste
  • Azerbaijani: biədəb — offensive to good taste
  • Belarusian: непрысто́йны (njeprystójny) — offensive to good taste
  • Bulgarian: неприли́чен (neprilíčen) — offensive to good taste
  • Bulgarian: непристо́ен (nepristóen) — offensive to good taste
  • Cherokee: ᏄᏁᎸᎾ (nunelvna) — offensive to good taste
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不體面 /不体面 (bùtǐmiàn) — offensive to good taste
  • Czech: neslušný — offensive to good taste
  • Danish: uanstændig — offensive to good taste
  • Danish: usømmelig — offensive to good taste
  • Dutch: onfatsoenlijk — offensive to good taste
  • Dutch: onbetamelijk — offensive to good taste
  • Finnish: törkeä — offensive to good taste
  • Finnish: sopimaton — offensive to good taste
  • French: indécent — offensive to good taste
  • German: unanständig — offensive to good taste
  • Hindi: अनुचित (anucit) — offensive to good taste
  • Hindi: अशोभनीय (aśobhnīya) — offensive to good taste
  • Latin: indecēns — offensive to good taste
  • Macedonian: непри́стоен (neprístoen) — offensive to good taste
  • Māori: mōtekoteko — offensive to good taste
  • Middle English: dishoneste — offensive to good taste
  • Polish: nieprzyzwoity — offensive to good taste
  • Portuguese: indecente — offensive to good taste
  • Romanian: indecent — offensive to good taste
  • Russian: неприли́чный (neprilíčnyj) — offensive to good taste
  • Russian: непристо́йный (nepristójnyj) — offensive to good taste
  • Scots: roch — offensive to good taste
  • Serbo-Croatian: непристојан — offensive to good taste
  • Serbo-Croatian: неукусан — offensive to good taste
  • Serbo-Croatian: nepristojan — offensive to good taste
  • Serbo-Croatian: neukusan — offensive to good taste
  • Slovak: neslušný — offensive to good taste
  • Slovene: nespodoben — offensive to good taste
  • Ukrainian: непристо́йний (neprystójnyj) — offensive to good taste
  • Welsh: anweddus — offensive to good taste
  • Welsh: aflednais — offensive to good taste
  • Bulgarian: неподоба́ващ (nepodobávašt) — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Catalan: indecent — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Chinese Mandarin: 非禮 /非礼 (fēilǐ) — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Danish: uanstændig — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Danish: usømmelig — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Esperanto: maldeca — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Finnish: säädytön — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Finnish: sopimaton — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • French: indécent — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • German: unanständig — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • German: unkonventionell — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • German: unschicklich — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Hebrew: מְגֻנֶּה (meguné) — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Japanese: いやらしい (iyarashii) — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Kabyle: amcum — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Latin: indecēns — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Macedonian: недо́личен (nedóličen) — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Macedonian: непри́личен (nepríličen) — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Māori: mōtekoteko — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Polish: nieobyczajny — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Polish: nieprzyzwoity — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Portuguese: indecente — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Russian: неприли́чный (neprilíčnyj) — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Russian: неподоба́ющий (nepodobájuščij) — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Serbo-Croatian: nedoličan — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Serbo-Croatian: nepriličan — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Turkish: edepsiz — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Turkish: yakışıksız — not in keeping with conventional moral values
  • Turkish: hayasız — not in keeping with conventional moral values
Real reading context

indecent in complete knowledge articles