adj
Meaning 1
Offensive to standards of decency or morality.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: decent, moral, nonobscene
Standard Lemma guide
obscene
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.
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Received-Pronunciation: /əbˈsiːn/
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Canada, General-American: əb-sēnʹ
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Canada, General-American: /əbˈsin/
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Midwestern-US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian, New-Zealand: /əbˈsiːn/
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rhymes with -iːn
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CMU ARPABET: AA0 B S IY1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: AH0 B S IY1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Lewd or lustful.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: abandoned, common, easy, fast, lascivious, lewd, liberal, libidinous, licentious, loose, lustful, lusty, promiscuous, riggish, slack, unchaste, wanton, wappened
Antonyms: chaste, nonobscene, pure
adj
Meaning 3
Disgusting or repulsive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: abhorrant, abhorrent, bad, sickly, bum, vile, demonic, disagreeable, disgusting, distasteful, foul, rancid, fulsome, gooey, grim, gro, grody, gross, grotty, harsh, loathsome, munted, nasty, nauseous, offensive, obnoxious, obscene, rank, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, scabrous, sickening, strident, unpleasant
Antonyms: nonobscene
adj
Meaning 4
Beyond all reason; excessive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: devilish, excessive, de trop, extravagant, extreme, immoderate, intemperate, lavish, nimious, obscene, overmuch, overweening, over the top, prodigal, undue, unmeasured, unreasonable, unrestrained, wanton
Antonyms: measured, mellow, middle of the road, mild, moderate, nonexcessive, nonextreme, nonfanatic, proper, reasonable, reasonous, sober, temperate, tempered, unexcessive, unextreme
adj
Meaning 5
Liable to corrupt or deprave.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK
Qualifier: criminal law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: corruptive, perversive
Antonyms: decent, nonobscene
verb
Meaning 6
To act or speak in an obscene manner; to offend.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: ambitransitive, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
suggestive of or tending to moral looseness
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- lewd whisperings of a dirty old man
- an indecent gesture
- obscene telephone calls
- salacious limericks
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: lewd, raunchy, salacious
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 8
designed to incite to indecency or lust-Margaret Mead
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the dance often becomes flagrantly obscene
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 9
offensive to the mind
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- an abhorrent deed
- the obscene massacre at Wounded Knee
- morally repugnant customs
- repulsive behavior
- the most repulsive character in recent novels
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: abhorrent, detestable, repugnant, repulsive
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obscēnus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh2iwo-). If from caenum, the unexpected extra -s- may be from a variant form of the original PIE root; a similar -s- exists in ex-.
Across languages
Translations
139 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: فَاحِش (fāḥiš) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Arabic: قَذِر (qaḏir) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Arabic: فَحَّاش (faḥḥāš) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Arabic: فاحش (fāḥiš) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Bashkir: әҙәпһеҙ (əźəpheź) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Bashkir: урынһыҙ (urınhıź) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Bashkir: килешмәгән (kileşməgən) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Belarusian: непрысто́йны (njeprystójny) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Bulgarian: неприли́чен (neprilíčen) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Bulgarian: непристо́ен (nepristóen) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Bulgarian: нецензу́рен (necenzúren) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Catalan: obscè — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Chinese Mandarin: 低俗 (dīsú) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Chinese Mandarin: 下流 (xiàliú) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Chinese Mandarin: 淫穢 /淫秽 (yínhuì) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Chinese Mandarin: 淫亂 /淫乱 (yínluàn) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Czech: sprostý — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Czech: neslušný — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Czech: obscénní — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Czech: oplzlý — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Finnish: rivo — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Finnish: säädytön — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Finnish: siveetön — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- French: obscène — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Galician: obsceno — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Georgian: უხამსი (uxamsi) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Georgian: უწმაწური (uc̣mac̣uri) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- German: obszön — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- German: unanständig — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Greek: αισχρός (aischrós) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Hindi: फ़हश (fahaś) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Hindi: अश्लील (aślīl) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Hungarian: obszcén — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Hungarian: felháborító — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Indonesian: asusila — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Indonesian: cabul — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Indonesian: kasar — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Irish: gáirsiúil — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Irish: graosta — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Italian: osceno — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Italian: disdicevole — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Italian: immorale — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Italian: indecente — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Italian: laido — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Italian: sconcio — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Japanese: 猥褻な (waisetsu na) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Japanese: すけべいな (sukebei na) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Japanese: すけべな (sukebe na) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Japanese: 淫乱な (inran na) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Korean: 음란하다 (eumnanhada) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Korean: 음탕하다 (eumtanghada) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Korean: 외설하다 (oeseolhada) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Latin: obscēnus — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Macedonian: безобразен (bezobrazen) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Macedonian: непристоен (nepristoen) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Macedonian: срамотен (sramoten) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Māori: mōtekoteko — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Persian: فاحش (fâheš) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Persian: فحاش (fahhâš) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Persian: مستهجن (mostahjan) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Plautdietsch: groff — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Plautdietsch: schmutzich — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Polish: obsceniczny — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Polish: nieprzyzwoity — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Polish: sprośny — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Portuguese: obsceno — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Romanian: obscen — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Russian: обсце́нный (obscénnyj) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Russian: неприли́чный (neprilíčnyj) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Russian: непристо́йный (nepristójnyj) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Russian: развра́тный (razvrátnyj) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Russian: нецензу́рный (necenzúrnyj) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Serbo-Croatian: непристојан — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Serbo-Croatian: nepristojan — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Slovak: oplzlý — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Slovak: neslušný — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Slovak: obscénny — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Slovene: nespodoben — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Slovene: obscen — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Spanish: obsceno — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Swedish: obscen — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Swedish: oanständig — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Tajik: беодоб (beodob) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Turkish: müstehcen — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Ukrainian: непристо́йний (neprystójnyj) — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Uzbek: beadab — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Welsh: anweddus — offensive to current standards of decency or morality
- Bulgarian: похотли́в (pohotlív) — lewd or lustful
- Bulgarian: развра́тен (razvráten) — lewd or lustful
- Catalan: obscè — lewd or lustful
- Chinese Mandarin: 淫蕩 /淫荡 (yíndàng) — lewd or lustful
- Chinese Mandarin: 淫穢 /淫秽 (yínhuì) — lewd or lustful
- Finnish: himokas — lewd or lustful
- Finnish: rietas — lewd or lustful
- Hungarian: trágár — lewd or lustful
- Hungarian: sikamlós — lewd or lustful
- Hungarian: szemérmetlen — lewd or lustful
- Hungarian: illetlen — lewd or lustful
- Indonesian: cabul — lewd or lustful
- Irish: gáirsiúil — lewd or lustful
- Irish: graosta — lewd or lustful
- Māori: mōtekoteko — lewd or lustful
- Māori: tīweka — lewd or lustful
- Portuguese: obsceno — lewd or lustful
- Russian: похотли́вый (poxotlívyj) — lewd or lustful
- Russian: развра́тный (razvrátnyj) — lewd or lustful
- Spanish: procaz — lewd or lustful
- Tagalog: maruming-isip — lewd or lustful
- Welsh: anllad — lewd or lustful
- Welsh: anlladaidd — lewd or lustful
- Bashkir: әшәке (əşəke) — disgusting or repulsive
- Bashkir: оятһыҙ (oyathıź) — disgusting or repulsive
- Catalan: obscè — disgusting or repulsive
- Chinese Mandarin: 噁心 /恶心 (ěxīn) — disgusting or repulsive
- Chinese Mandarin: 可惡 /可恶 (kěwù) — disgusting or repulsive
- Chinese Mandarin: 可憎 (kězēng) — disgusting or repulsive
- Chinese Mandarin: 令人憎惡的 /令人憎恶的 (lìngrén zēng'è de) — disgusting or repulsive
- Finnish: kuvottava — disgusting or repulsive
- Hungarian: undorító — disgusting or repulsive
- Hungarian: ocsmány — disgusting or repulsive
- Hungarian: visszataszító — disgusting or repulsive
- Indonesian: cabul — disgusting or repulsive
- Indonesian: jorok — disgusting or repulsive
- Māori: maninohea — disgusting or repulsive
- Māori: whakarihariha — disgusting or repulsive
- Plautdietsch: groff — disgusting or repulsive
- Polish: obsceniczny — disgusting or repulsive
- Portuguese: obsceno — disgusting or repulsive
- Catalan: obscè — beyond all reason
- Finnish: hillitön — beyond all reason
- Hungarian: irdatlan — beyond all reason
- Hungarian: brutális — beyond all reason
- Hungarian: észbontó — beyond all reason
- Hungarian: őrületes — beyond all reason
- Catalan: obscè — liable to deprave or corrupt
- Finnish: heikkoluonteinen — liable to deprave or corrupt
- Finnish: moraaliton — liable to deprave or corrupt
- Romanian: obscen — liable to deprave or corrupt
- Romanian: imoral — liable to deprave or corrupt