taboo
/təˈbuː/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
South Asia/ˈʈæ.bu/
taboo noun: an inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
Noun
taboo (countable and uncountable, plural taboos)
- An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
- It is true indeed that a taboo - in order to be a proper taboo - must not rest in the general mind on argument or reason.1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 194
- So among the Alfoors of the island of Buru it is taboo to mention the names of parents and parents-in-law, or even to speak of common objects by words which resemble these names in sound.1922, James Frazer, The Golden Bough
- Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.
Adjective
taboo (comparative more taboo, superlative most taboo)
- Excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention.
- Incest is a taboo subject in most soap operas.
- Sweets and fats are strictly taboo in my home.
- Culturally forbidden.
Verb
taboo (third-person singular simple present taboos, present participle tabooing, simple past and past participle tabooed)
taboo meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
taboo in Tamil
- தீண்டப்படாத, விலக்கப்பட்ட
taboo in Bengali
- নিষিদ্ধ, বর্জ্য
taboo in Malayalam
- വിലക്കപ്പെട്ട വസ്തുവോ പ്രവൃത്തിയോ
taboo in Kannada
- ತಡೆತ, ಹೊರಪಡಿಕೆ, ನೀಗಿಕೆ, ಬಹಿಷ್ಕಾರ, ನಿಷೇಧ
More languagesFewer languages
- taboo in Punjabi
- ਜ਼ਹਿਰ zahir
- taboo in Odia
- ଟାବୁ
- taboo in Tagalog
- kabawalan
- taboo in Arabic
- مَحْظُورٌ اجْتِمَاعِيّ
- taboo in Malay
- pantang
- taboo in Indonesian
- pemali, pantangan, pantang
- taboo in Persian
- تابو tâbu
Examples of taboo in a sentence
- Genesis, for example, is about incest taboos; all the rest is noise and mystification.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 12:
- We have a puritanical taboo against talking about sexuality directly, yet we are fine with the sexual images that pervade television and glossy magazines.2014 May 21, Rey Junco, “What’s the big deal about sexting?”, in CNN:
- In other words, mass adoption killed the taboo.2023 June 6, Kevin Roose, “Why I Can’t Bet Against Apple’s Mixed-Reality Prowess”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original...
Synonyms of taboo
Forms of taboo
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | taboos |
| alternative form | tabu |
| alternative form | tapu |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more taboo |
| superlative | most taboo |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | taboos |
| present participle | tabooing |
| past participle | tabooed |
| past | tabooed |
Origin of taboo
Borrowed from Tongan tapu (“prohibited, sacred”), from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu. Doublet of kapu. First attested in c. 1777. The p in the Tongan source was misheard as b.
Words formed from taboo
Phrases with taboo
Words that rhyme with taboo
Questions about taboo
- What does taboo mean?
- Taboo means an inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
- What is taboo in Tamil?
- Taboo in Tamil is தீண்டப்படாத, விலக்கப்பட்ட. See Taboo meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use taboo in a sentence?
- Genesis, for example, is about incest taboos; all the rest is noise and mystification.
- What part of speech is taboo?
- Taboo can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce taboo?
- Taboo is pronounced /təˈbuː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of taboo?
- The plural of taboo is taboos.
Words near taboo in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: taboo (page history and authors); taboo (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); taboo (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); taboo (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); taboo (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਜ਼ਹਿਰ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); taboo (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-taboo.wav.
Cite this entry: “taboo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taboo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.