Obscenity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Language, behavior, or material that is offensive, indecent, or morally repulsive, especially in a sexual manner
2. Language, actions, or content considered highly offensive or vulgar, particularly when related to sexual or crude subject matter
3. Anything deemed unacceptable or immoral in society, often involving explicit or lewd expressions or imagery

Etymology: "Obscenity" comes from "obscene" plus the suffix "-ity," which turns an adjective into a noun meaning the quality or state of being that adjective. The adjective "obscene" was borrowed from Latin "obscenus," and the Latin noun "obscenitas" carried the same sense of offensiveness, indecency, or ill omen that the English word inherited. The Latin "obscenus" itself has uncertain origins. Ancient writers offered several suggestions, and modern scholars have not settled on one, so the precise root remains a matter of guesswork. What is clear is that the word was already tied to notions of impropriety and bad omen in Latin, long before it came to describe lewd material. Because the English noun is simply a straightforward derivation, its history is largely the history of the adjective. Over time, "obscenity" narrowed from a broad sense of anything offensive or unseemly toward the more specific modern association with sexual explicitness, which is why it now appears so often in legal and moral debates about pornography.

Synonyms: indecency, vulgarity, profanity, immorality, lewdness

Antonyms: decency, propriety, purity, innocence, chastity