obscenity Definition
ob·scen·ity (äb sen′ə tē, əb-; also, chiefly Brit, --sēn′-)
noun
- the state or quality of being obscene
- pl. -·ties an obscene remark, act, event, etc.
Etymology: Fr obscénité < L obscenitas
obscenity Synonyms
obscenity
n.
The state or quality of being obscene
salacity, vulgarity, scurrility; see lewdness.That which is obscene
vulgarity, impropriety, smut; see curse 1, indecency 2, pornography.
obscenity Law Definition
See
obscene material.
obscenity Usage Examples
Converse of object
- yell: The butcher explodes and punches her belly several times yelling obscenities like " Your baby is hamburger meat now " .
- shout: He kept shouting obscenities around the court, claiming to be in love with her!
- scream: John, usually very cool and tough, became pale, trembled and screamed terrible obscenities at me.
- contain: Please be aware that our spam filter deletes material that contains obscenities.
- use: They were screaming at him, using obscenities, being very aggressive.
- mutter: The big man was still alive, curled into a tight ball. Get up. J.J. muttered an obscenity.
Preposition: at
child: There are parents who will shout obscenities at children in the opposing team.
Adjective modifier
- general: However, in the milieu of general obscenity it passes as harmless parlance.
- such: Your paper will only improve more, without such obscenities obscuring the clarity of Mr Wood's appearance.
- so-called: The objection to Husain is not the so-called obscenity of his paintings.
- ultimate: War is the ultimate in criminality, the ultimate obscenity, the ultimate crime against humanity.
- moral: That people are compelled to divert resources in this way is surely a moral obscenity.
- only: The only obscenity is something called British Justice An important avenue of porn distribution in the UK is via mail order.
Preposition: on
wall: The window was smashed and there were obscenities on the walls.
Modifies a noun
- law: The tourist could now face up to three months in jail under India's obscenity laws.
- charge: The latter publication, which Barker co-edited, delivered him trembling to the dock of the Old Bailey on an obscenity charge in 1973.
- case: Maxwell was a prosecution witness in the obscenity case brought against the American novel Last Exit to Brooklyn in 1966.
- prosecution: The satisfyingly late Mary Whitehouse failed in her attempt to bring an obscenity prosecution against the play's original director, Michael Bogdanov.
Preposition: of
Browse dictionary entries near obscenity
- ‹ obscenely
- ‹ obscene material
- ‹ obscene
- ‹ obs
- ‹ OBRA 93
- ‹ obovoid
- ‹ obovate
- ‹ obolus
- ‹ oboe
- ‹ obnubilate
- obscurant ›
- obscurantism ›
- obscuration ›
- obscure ›
- obscurely ›
- obscurity ›
- obsecrate ›
- obsequies ›
- obsequious ›
- obsequiously ›

