1
as in vulgarity
the quality or state of being obscene
the song couldn't be performed on the air due to the obscenity of the lyrics
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2
as in curse
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression
uttered a loud obscenity when he dropped the hammer on his toe
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Recent Examples of obscenity
Hwang seems to be suggesting that a line can indeed be drawn from the cultural tempests – too easily dismissed as matters of political correctness – to the real-world tragedies and obscenities that send innocent men to jail and early graves.
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Greg Evans, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2024
These days, when people seem eager to scream obscenities at passing strangers, who can believe that anyone would take the trouble to be so subtle with an insult?
—Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 30 Oct. 2024
The Wexner opened during the height of the culture wars, when the [Robert] Mapplethorpe show in Cincinnati was getting the museum director there prosecuted for obscenity.
—Jason Simon, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2024
In 1985: Tipper Gore testified at congressional hearings addressing the issue of obscenity in rock music and advocating for parental advisory labels.
—Lorenzino Estrada, The Arizona Republic, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for obscenity 
Greg Evans, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2024
These days, when people seem eager to scream obscenities at passing strangers, who can believe that anyone would take the trouble to be so subtle with an insult?
—Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 30 Oct. 2024
The Wexner opened during the height of the culture wars, when the [Robert] Mapplethorpe show in Cincinnati was getting the museum director there prosecuted for obscenity.
—Jason Simon, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2024
In 1985: Tipper Gore testified at congressional hearings addressing the issue of obscenity in rock music and advocating for parental advisory labels.
—Lorenzino Estrada, The Arizona Republic, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for obscenity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obscenity
Noun
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Whatever happened to elegant, elevated and epic language in lieu of vulgarities that flourish in the sewers and gutters of morality?Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 3 Nov. 2024
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Policy proposals aside, there's been name-calling, vulgarity, and plain old meanness.Jon LaPook, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2024
Noun
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For high-achieving professionals, especially those who are naturally more sensitive and perceptive, emotional investment in work can be both a blessing and a curse.Melody Wilding, Contributor, CNBC, 19 Dec. 2024
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Financial Education Is Wealth The third-generation wealth curse often befalls families where younger generations, especially grandchildren, are detached from how their predecessors went about building wealth.Next Avenue, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The station asked the band not to include the swears.Kris Holt, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
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There’s a heavy focus on Asia’s first One&Only spa, featuring a green caviar body exfoliation and an Augustinus Bader facial celebs swear by.Katie Lockhart, Robb Report, 11 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Another Narbonne player who was ejected, Domo Phillips, won’t be able to play Friday for using profanity.Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2024
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O’Hara’s text has a sitcom patter to it with transparent laugh lines that feel almost like Neil Simon with more atmospheric profanity.Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
Noun
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For example, 22 policies (44.0%) did not include language stating that parents must be notified of incidents as soon as possible.Nolan McKendry | The Center Square, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 16 Dec. 2024
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Onto the page spilled more than ten thousand lines of the richest and most resourceful blank verse in the English language, arranged into ten books in 1667, then rearranged into twelve in 1674.Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Noun
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As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, the expression not hardly is considered a vulgarism.NR Editors, National Review, 16 Apr. 2020
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The British cringed over new American accents, coinages and vulgarisms.Time, Time, 11 June 2019
Noun
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The announcement comes after the district on July 31 told parents that LBJ band, piano and choir teacher Rodney Childers had been arrested and charged with indecency with a child by exposure and two counts of improper educator-student relationship, all second-degree felonies.Keri Heath, Austin American-Statesman, 8 Aug. 2024
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In short, when faced with a genuine choice between civility and decency versus vulgarity and indecency, most Americans who voted in the 2024 elections opted for the latter.Mordechai Gordon, Hartford Courant, 12 Nov. 2024
Noun
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When land grabbers call, Cannon answers with expletives.Denise Hruby, Sun Sentinel, 2 Dec. 2024
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They were met with expletives from several rallygoers.Helen Rummel, The Arizona Republic, 25 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near obscenity
Cite this Entry
“Obscenity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obscenity. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.
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