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obscenity Definition

ob·scen·ity (äb senə tē, əb-; also, chiefly Brit, -sēn-)

noun

  1. the state or quality of being obscene
  2. pl. obscenities -·ties an obscene remark, act, event, etc.

Etymology: Fr obscénité < L obscenitas

obscenity Synonyms

obscenity

n.

  1. The state or quality of being obscene

    salacity, vulgarity, scurrility; see lewdness.

  2. That which is obscene

    vulgarity, impropriety, smut; see curse 1, indecency 2, pornography.

obscenity Law Definition
obscenity Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • mutter: The big man was still alive, curled into a tight ball. Get up. J.J. muttered an obscenity.

Adjective modifier

  • general: However, in the milieu of general obscenity it passes as harmless parlance.
  • 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.

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

  • war: This comparison is a powerful illustration of the obscenity of war.
obscenity Quotes

An obscenity, a depraved act by weak and miserable men, including all of us, who haveallowed ittogo onand on with endless fury.

—Chomsky, (Avram) Noam

Obscenity is a cleansing process, whereas pornography only adds to the murk.

—Miller, Henry Valentine

Obscenity is what happens to shock some elderlyand ignorant magistrate.

—Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl

Sex and obscenityare not synonymous.

—Brennan,WilliamJ(oseph),Jr

Browse dictionary entries near obscenity

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  6. OBRA 93
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  10. oboli
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  10. obscuring