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# obscenity

«obscenity» in Mova's school dictionary: **A very rude or offensive word, especially a swear word** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (obscenity — uncountable; an obscenity, obscenities)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A very rude or offensive word, especially a swear word. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#m1)

2) Something shockingly offensive or rude. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#m2)

3) Something morally shocking or wrong, as in "War is an obscenity" or "the obscenity of hunger in a rich world". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Used in news, law and formal speech ("He shouted obscenities") and in ethics and politics to say something is deeply wrong. At school and in public, obscenities are not allowed. Phrases: "shout obscenities", "an obscenity".

### examples

- The angry driver shouted obscenities out of the window. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#x1)
- Obscenities are not allowed in the school playground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#x2)
- The referee sent off the player for using an obscenity. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#x3)
- The newspaper said wasting food while people starve is an obscenity. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#x4)
- The graffiti was full of obscenities, so the council cleaned it off. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#x5)
- Some people think huge bonuses are an obscenity. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/#x6)

### note

Countable for single words ("obscenities"); uncountable for the quality. Adjective "obscene". Formal; everyday word: "swear word". Pronounced "ob-SEN-it-ee".

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «obscenity» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/obscenity/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.