obscener

Adjective

obscene (comparative obscener or more obscene, superlative obscenest or most obscene)

1. Offensive to standards of decency or morality.
   • [...] I did incounter that obſeene and moſt prepoſterous euent that draweth frõ my ſnowhite pen the ebon coloured Incke, which here thou vieweſt, beholdeſt, ſuruayeſt, or ſeeſt. [...] There did I ſee that low ſpirited Swaine, [...] hight Coſtard, (Clow[ne]. O mee) ſorted and conſorted contrary to...c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby...

   Antonyms:

   decent, moral, nonobscene

2. Lewd or lustful.
   • 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.1629, Fra[ncis] Lenton, “Section XIV. The Young Gallant’s Whirlgig.”, in James Orchard Halliwell, editor, The Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, an Ancient Interlude. […], London: […] Shakespeare Society...

   Synonyms:

   abandoned, common, easy, fast, lascivious, lewd, liberal, libidinous, licentious, loose

   Antonyms:

   chaste, nonobscene, pure

3. Disgusting or repulsive.
   • Scrooge listened to this dialogue in horror. As they sat grouped about their spoil, in the scanty light afforded by the old man's lamp, he viewed them with a detestation and disgust, which could hardly have been greater, though they had been obscene demons, marketing the corpse itself.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 135

   Synonyms:

   abhorrant, abhorrent, bad, sickly, mean, infernal, bum, horrid, vile, demonic

   Antonyms:

   nonobscene

4. (broadly) Beyond all reason; excessive.
   • Yossarian went along in Milo Minderbinder's speeding M & M staff car to police headquarters to meet a swarthy, untidy police commissioner with a narrow black mustache and unbuttoned tunic who was fiddling with a stout woman with warts and two chins when they entered his office and who greeted Milo...1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Eternal City”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 425

   Synonyms:

   devilish, excessive, horrendous, de trop, extravagant, extreme, immoderate, intemperate, lavish, nimious

   Antonyms:

   measured, mellow, middle of the road, mild, moderate, nonexcessive, nonextreme, nonfanatic, proper, reasonable

5. (UK, criminal law) Liable to corrupt or deprave.
   • For the purposes of this Act an article shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect or (where the article comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant...1959 August 29, Obscene Publications Act 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz. II, chapter 66), London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2020, section 1(1)

   Synonyms:

   corruptive, perversive

   Antonyms:

   decent, nonobscene

See all 6 meanings of obscene