noun
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the state or quality of being indecent
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an indecent act, etc
Etymology
Origin of indecency
From the Latin word indecentia, dating back to 1580–90. See indecent, -ency
Explanation
Indecency is the habit or action of being offensive or improper. Indecency is banned on television during times that children might be watching. If you tell dirty jokes or deeply offend a friend, you could be accused of indecency. Swearing on a radio broadcast or showing an extremely violent scene in a movie meant for kids are both examples of indecency that are punishable by law. Indecency comes from the Latin word indecentem, "not decent" or "in bad taste," from the roots in-, "not," and decentem, "fitting or proper."
Vocabulary lists containing indecency
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Like previous Tectonic works, including “The Laramie Project” and “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde,” it proceeds in the form of an investigation based on interviews and relevant documents.
From New York Times • May 30, 2023
While most of the 11,399 TV complaints received through the Consumer Help Center from December 29, 2014, to May 17, 2015, were about billing issues, 2181 were filed under "Indecency."
From Salon • Aug. 28, 2021
The award for poetry was won by the black queer poet Justin Phillip Reed for his first full-length book of poetry, Indecency.
From The Guardian • Nov. 14, 2018
Indecency laws aren’t going away any time soon, but they’ve already begun to seem laughably impotent in this digitized century, where the question of what to watch has virtually infinite answers.
From Salon • Jan. 17, 2011
It seems, he begged this bit of Antique Indecency from Friedrich Wilhelm; who, we may fancy, would give him such an article with especial readiness.
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 04 by Carlyle, Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
