obscene
/əbˈsiːn
/adjective
1(Of the portrayal or description of sexual matters) offensive or disgusting by accepted standards of morality and decency: obscene jokes...
- Mr Danby suggests rules which include deleting mail containing obscene, racist or offensive material.
- Football chants are cruel, obscene, offensive, sometimes downright sick and often very funny.
- They had already beaten up and name-called other boys from his school, and subjected girls to obscene sexual innuendo.
Synonyms
pornographic, indecent, salacious, smutty, X-rated, lewd, rude, dirty, filthy, vulgar, foul, coarse, crude, gross, vile, nasty, disgusting, offensive, shameless, immoral, improper, immodest, impure, indecorous, indelicate, unwholesome, scabrous, off colour, lubricious, risqué, ribald, bawdy, suggestive, titillating, racy, erotic, carnal, sensual, sexy, lascivious, lecherous, licentious, libidinous, goatish, degenerate, depraved, amoral, debauched, dissolute, prurient;
scatological, profane
informal blue, porn, porno, raunchy, sick
British informal near the knuckle, fruity, saucy
euphemistic adult
rare ithyphallic, Fescennine, Cyprian
1.1Offending against moral principles; repugnant: using animals' skins for fur coats is obscene...
- If only she could express it without employing obscene moral parallels.
- The obscene inequalities of wealth dividing rich and poor nations must be reduced.
- The principal explanation lies in the obscene moral inversion of victim culture.
Synonyms
shocking, scandalous, vile, foul, atrocious, outrageous, heinous, wicked, evil, odious, abhorrent, abominable, disgusting, hideous, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, repellent, obnoxious, offensive, objectionable, loathsome, hateful, nauseating, sickening, awful, dreadful, terrible, frightful, ghastly
archaic disgustful, loathly
Origin
Late 16th century: from French obscène or Latin obscaenus 'ill-omened or abominable'.
The word obscene comes from Latin obscaenus ‘ill-omened or abominable’, a sense it could have into the 19th century. However, its primary sense in English has always been ‘offensive, indecent.’