Standard Lemma guide

obscenity

noun · 8 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.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 B S EH1 N IH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Something that is obscene.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • Martha wouldn't go into the art museum because, as she put it, "They have obscenities just sitting out, on display!"

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An act of obscene behaviour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • Bestiality was outlawed as an obscenity in the strongly conservative community.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Specifically, an offensive word; a profanity; a dirty word.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • Eliza couldn't stand her daughter's music; as she saw it, it was just shouted obscenities and a heavy drum beat.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Lewdness, indecency, or offensive behaviour or material.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • The coalition of religious conservatives was campaigning against, in their view, rampant obscenity in the entertainment industry.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The fact of being obscene.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

an obscene act

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: indecency, impropriety

7

noun

Meaning 7

the trait of behaving in an obscene manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lewdness, bawdiness, salaciousness, salacity

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: indecency

Narrower terms: smuttiness, dirtiness

8

noun

Meaning 8

an offensive or indecent word or phrase

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: smut, vulgarism, filth, dirty word

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: profanity

Narrower terms: bawdry, bawdy, scatology

History

Etymology

From obscene + -ity, from Latin obscenitas.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: lapërdhi — something that is obscene
  • Catalan: obscenitat — something that is obscene
  • Chinese Mandarin: 淫穢 /淫秽 (yínhuì) — something that is obscene
  • Chinese Mandarin: 猥褻 /猥亵 (wěixiè) — something that is obscene
  • Czech: oplzlost — something that is obscene
  • French: obscénité — something that is obscene
  • Galician: obscenidade — something that is obscene
  • German: Obszönität — something that is obscene
  • Hebrew: פריצות (p"ritzût) — something that is obscene
  • Hindi: अश्लीलता (aślīltā) — something that is obscene
  • Italian: oscenità — something that is obscene
  • Italian: turpiloquio — something that is obscene
  • Japanese: 猥褻 (waisetsu) — something that is obscene
  • Latin: obscēnitās — something that is obscene
  • Malayalam: അശ്ലീലം (aślīlaṁ) — something that is obscene
  • Maltese: oxxenità — something that is obscene
  • Polish: obsceniczność — something that is obscene
  • Portuguese: obscenidade — something that is obscene
  • Russian: непристо́йность (nepristójnostʹ) — something that is obscene
  • Russian: поха́бщина (poxábščina) — something that is obscene
  • Scottish Gaelic: draosdachd — something that is obscene
  • Scottish Gaelic: drabasdachd — something that is obscene
  • Slovak: oplzlosť — something that is obscene
  • Spanish: obscenidad — something that is obscene
  • Swedish: obscenitet — something that is obscene
  • Tagalog: kalaswaan — something that is obscene
  • Tamil: அசிங்கம் (aciṅkam) — something that is obscene
  • Telugu: బూతు (būtu) — something that is obscene