obscene

== English == === Etymology === From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obscēnus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂iwo-). If from caenum, the unexpected extra -s- may be from a variant form of the original PIE root; a similar -s- exists in ex-. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əbˈsiːn/ (General American) enPR: əb-sēnʹ, IPA(key): /əbˈsin/ Rhymes: -iːn Hyphenation: ob‧scene === Adjective === obscene (comparative obscener or more obscene, superlative obscenest or most obscene) (see usage notes) Offensive to standards of decency or morality. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene Antonyms: decent, moral, nonobscene Lewd or lustful. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:promiscuous Antonyms: chaste, nonobscene, pure Disgusting or repulsive. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:unpleasant Antonym: nonobscene (by extension) Beyond all reason; excessive. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excessive Antonyms: see Thesaurus:moderate (chiefly British, criminal law) Liable to corrupt or deprave. Synonyms: corruptive, perversive Antonyms: decent, nonobscene ==== Usage notes ==== The comparative form obscener and superlative form obscenest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscene and most obscene. In criminal law, many jurisdictions distinguish between the terms obscene, indecent, and profane when regulating broadcast content, with obscene typically being the most severe of the three categories. ==== Alternative forms ==== obscæne (archaic) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== obscenity obscenous (obsolete) obscenousness (obsolete) ==== Translations ==== === Verb === obscene (third-person singular simple present obscenes, present participle obscening, simple past and past participle obscened) (ambitransitive, rare) To act or speak in an obscene manner; to offend. === References === === Further reading === obscenity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia == Latin == === Adjective === obscēne vocative masculine singular of obscēnus === References === “obscene”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “obscene”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers “obscene”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. == Romanian == === Adjective === obscene f pl feminine plural of obscen