Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The state or quality of being obscene.
  • noun Indecency, lewdness, or offensiveness in behavior, expression, or appearance.
  • noun Something, such as a word, act, or expression, that is indecent or lewd.
  • noun Something that is offensive or repulsive to the senses.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or character of being obscene; impurity or indecency in action, expression, or representation: licentiousness; lewdness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That quality in words or things which presents what is offensive to chastity or purity of mind; obscene or impure lanquage or acts; moral impurity; lewdness; obsceneness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable Something that is obscene.
  • noun countable An act of obscene behaviour.
  • noun countable Specifically, an offensive word; a profanity; a dirty word.
  • noun uncountable The qualities that make something obscene; lewdness, indecency, or offensive behaviour.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the trait of behaving in an obscene manner
  • noun an offensive or indecent word or phrase
  • noun an obscene act

Etymologies

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Examples

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  • For information about the first printed examples of the "f" and "c" words, see the long entry @ flyting.

    September 19, 2009