obscenity

English

Etymology

From obscene ‎ -ity, from Latin obscenitas.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

obscenity (countable and uncountable, plural obscenities)

1. (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!"

2. (countable) An act of obscene behaviour.

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

3. (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.

4. (uncountable) The qualities that make something obscene; lewdness, indecency, or offensive behaviour.

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

Translations

something that is obscene

• Albanian: lapërdhi (sq) f
• Catalan: obscenitat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 淫穢／淫秽 (zh) (yínhuì), 猥褻／猥亵 (zh) (wěixiè)

• Czech: oplzlost f
• French: obscénité (fr) f
• Galician: obscenidade (gl) f
• German: Obszönität (de) f
• Hebrew: פריצות (p"ritzût)
• Hindi: अश्लीलता (hi) f (aślīltā)
• Italian: oscenità (it) f, turpiloquio (it) m
• Japanese: 猥褻 (ja) (わいせつ, waisetsu)
• Latin: obscēnitās f
• Malayalam: അശ്ലീലം (ml) (aślīlaṁ)
• Maltese: oxxenità f
• Polish: obsceniczność (pl) f
• Portuguese: obscenidade (pt) f
• Russian: непристо́йность (ru) f (nepristójnostʹ), (colloquial) поха́бщина (ru) f (poxábščina)
• Scottish Gaelic: draosdachd f, drabasdachd f
• Slovak: oplzlosť f
• Spanish: obscenidad (es) f
• Swedish: obscenitet (sv) c
• Tagalog: kalaswaan
• Tamil: அசிங்கம் (ta) (aciṅkam)
• Telugu: బూతు (te) (būtu)