Antonyms for obscene


Grammar : Adj
Spell : uh b-seen
Phonetic Transcription : əbˈsin


Definition of obscene

Origin :
  • 1590s, "offensive to the senses, or to taste and refinement," from Middle French obscène (16c.), from Latin obscenus "offensive," especially to modesty, originally "boding ill, inauspicious," of unknown origin; perhaps from ob "onto" (see ob-) + caenum "filth." Meaning "offensive to modesty or decency" is attested from 1590s. Legally, in U.S., it hinged on "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest." [Justice William Brennan, "Roth v. United States," June 24, 1957]; refined in 1973 by "Miller v. California":
  • The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
  • Related: Obscenely.
  • adj indecent, offensive, immoral
Example sentences :
  • And a third showed the horn of an ox, with an obscene inscription.
  • Extract from : « Memoirs Of The Court Of Marie Antoinette, Queen Of France, Complete » by Madame Campan
  • He growled an obscene oath as he heaved the great oar forward.
  • Extract from : « The Sea-Hawk » by Raphael Sabatini
  • Hargus repeated the prisoner's request with obscene embellishment.
  • Extract from : « The Duke Of Chimney Butte » by G. W. Ogden
  • Between them they dragged into the light the obscene burden.
  • Extract from : « Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June, 1930 » by Various
  • But Tonet made an obscene gesture, and started to put the jacket on.
  • Extract from : « Mayflower (Flor de mayo) » by Vicente Blasco Ibez
  • Obscene words were scrawled on the walls, and even on the pulpit itself.
  • Extract from : « Wayside Courtships » by Hamlin Garland
  • They laugh at our music, they scoff at our arts and twist them into obscene mockeries.
  • Extract from : « The Link » by Alan Edward Nourse
  • Their songs and games are exceedingly licentious, and their myths are obscene.
  • Extract from : « Folkways » by William Graham Sumner
  • The obscene rites were at war with the current mores of the people at the time.
  • Extract from : « Folkways » by William Graham Sumner
  • Out of this has come the notion of what is obscene, as the extreme of indecency and impropriety.
  • Extract from : « Folkways » by William Graham Sumner

Synonyms for obscene

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019