obscene

Definitions

1. adjective

   Offensive to standards of decency or morality.

   Examples

   • Neither do wee pleaſe them with their owne crimes, or obſcæne ſpectacles: whereas they celebrate both the guilt that there gods incurred who were men, and the fayned pleaſures of ſuch of them as were flat deuills.
   • Shall I recount his intemperance, voluptuouſneſs, and obſcæne manner of living? or his impious, doubtful or wicked end? no, let them be buried with his aſhes.
   ≠decent≠moral≠nonobscene
2. adjective

   Lewd or lustful.

   Examples

   • Playes are the nurseries of vice, the bawd, / That thorow the senses steales our hearts abroad, / Tainting our eares with obscæne bawdery, / Lascivious words, and wanton ribaulry.
   • All masturbation is obscene, for [Roger] Scruton, also because it "involves a concentration on the body and its curious pleasures" [...].
   ≈abandoned≈common≈easy≈fast≈lascivious +16 more
3. adjective

   Disgusting or repulsive.

   Examples

   • The reminder of who we were / made the canned laughter obscene. / Disgusted, mother returned to the kitchen, / her thoughts private.
   • Her mom made her break up with me when she found a note I wrote to Linda; she found it obscene. I found HER obscene.
   ≈abhorrant≈abhorrent≈bad≈bum≈vile +30 more
4. adjective

   Beyond all reason; excessive.

   Examples

   • "You ate an obscene amount of those lobster patties last night, Deb." / "And I plan to eat an obscene amount of them tonight as well," I replied.
   • She would probably jump at the chance to show everyone how to save an obscene amount of money with an obscene amount of coupons.
   ≈devilish≈excessive≈extravagant≈extreme≈immoderate +29 more
5. adjective

   Liable to corrupt or deprave.

   Example

   • The tract was far more political and religious than sexual, but Cockburn [Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet] found it obscene because it would suggest to young persons (of either sex) "impure and libidinous" thoughts.
   ≈corruptive≈perversive≠decent≠nonobscene
6. verb

   To act or speak in an obscene manner; to offend.

   Examples

   • They passed the little stenchy cubicles shared by two families to a floor, and the graffiti gratuitously graven onto the walls, obscening the world and telling it, them, those, the fuzz, and everyone to go and . . .
   • “Fucked up, is what they are,” the priest obscened. “Pardon my language, but this is par for the course of the Catholic Church. What kind of bullshit is this?”