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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ob·scene

Audio Help [uh

b-seen] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	offensive to morality or decency; indecent; depraved: obscene language.

2.	causing uncontrolled sexual desire.

3.	abominable; disgusting; repulsive.

[Origin: 1585–95; < L obscénus, obscaenus

]

—Related forms

ob·scene·ly, adverb

ob·scene·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
obscene

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ob·scene Audio Help (ŏb-sēn', əb-) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Offensive to accepted standards of decency or modesty.
Inciting lustful feelings; lewd.
Repulsive; disgusting: "The way he writes about the disease that killed her is simply obscene" (Michael Korda).
So large in amount as to be objectionable or outrageous: "local merchants in nearby stores get hammered by stratospheric rents and obscene taxes" (Joe Queenan).

[Latin obscēnus.]

ob·scene'ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
obscene

1593, "offensive to the senses, or to taste and refinement," from M.Fr. obscène, from L. obscenus "offensive," especially to modesty, originally "boding ill, inauspicious," perhaps from ob "onto" + cænum "filth." Meaning "offensive to modesty or decency" is attested from 1598. Legally, in U.S., it hinges 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]

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

obscene
adjective
1.	designed to incite to indecency or lust; "the dance often becomes flagrantly obscene"-Margaret Mead
2.	offensive to the mind; "an abhorrent deed"; "the obscene massacre at Wounded Knee"; "morally repugnant customs"; "repulsive behavior"; "the most repulsive character in recent novels" [syn: abhorrent]
3.	suggestive of or tending to moral looseness; "lewd whisperings of a dirty old man"; "an indecent gesture"; "obscene telephone calls"; "salacious limericks" [syn: lewd]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
obscene [əbˈsiːn] adjective

disgusting, especially sexually
Example: obscene photographs

Arabic:	خَلاعي، فاحِش
Chinese (Simplified):	淫秽的
Chinese (Traditional):	淫穢的
Czech:	oplzlý
Danish:	modbydelig
Dutch:	obsceen
Estonian:	nilbe
Finnish:	säädytön
French:	obscène
German:	obszön
Greek:	άσεμνος, πρόστυχος
Hungarian:	trágár
Icelandic:	klámfenginn
Indonesian:	jorok
Italian:	osceno

Japanese:	わいせつな
Korean:	음란한
Latvian:	nepieklājīgs, piedauzīgs
Lithuanian:	nepadorus, nešvankus
Norwegian:	uanstendig, griset, pornografisk
Polish:	sprośny
Portuguese (Brazil):	obsceno
Portuguese (Portugal):	obsceno
Romanian:	obscen
Russian:	непристойный
Slovak:	oplzlý
Slovenian:	opolzek
Spanish:	obsceno
Swedish:	oanständig, motbjudande, obscen
Turkish:	müstehcen, açık saçık

See also: obscenity

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Obscene

Ob*scene"\, a/ [L. obscenus, obscaenus, obscoenus, ill looking, filthy, obscene: cf. F. obsc['e]ne.]

1. Offensive to chastity or modesty; expressing of presenting to the mind or view something which delicacy, purity, and decency forbid to be exposed; impure; as, obscene language; obscene pictures.

Words that were once chaste, by frequent use grew obscene and uncleanly. --I. Watts.

2. Foul; fifthy; disgusting.

A girdle foul with grease b??ds his obscene attire. --Dryden.

3. Inauspicious; ill-omened. [R.] [A Latinism]

At the cheerful light, The groaning ghosts and birds obscene take flight. --Dryden.

Syn: Impure; immodest; indecent; unchaste; lewd. -- Ob*scene"ly, adv. -- Ob*scene"ness, n.

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