obscenity
Origin of obscenity
Examples from the Web for obscenity
Contemporary Examples
Some might say there is also an obscenity to it, given the amount of poverty in the world.
William, Kate, and Jay Z’s Favorite Art Star: Alexander Gilkes' World of Rock Stars and RoyaltyTim Teeman
December 10, 2014
Among these are obscenity, defamation, fighting words, express incitement to unlawful conduct, and threats.
Does Free Speech Cover Murder Fantasies? The Supreme Court’s Definition of a ‘Threat’Geoffrey R. Stone
December 1, 2014
One trucker did shout an obscenity, and a musclebound mechanic told them to go and do something useful like study.
An Alabama obscenity law passed in 1998 made the sale of most sex toys illegal in the state.
Coined “obscenity regulations,” on face value they appear to ban material that “depicts or describes sexual misconduct.”
Historical Examples
The second power of vulgarity is obscenity, and this vice is like the pestilence.
The Call of the Twentieth CenturyDavid Starr Jordan
This is not a criticism of the phallus on grounds of obscenity, but on grounds of buffoonery.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
This last degenerated into obscenity, indecency, and disorder.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
Obscenity arose from everything before her eyes and approached her.
Germinie LacerteuxEdmond and Jules de Goncourt
It is evident that mere nudity in painting and sculpture is not obscenity.
obscenity
- the state or quality of being obscene
- an obscene act, statement, word, etc
Word Origin and History for obscenity
n.
1580s, "obscene quality," from French obscénité, from Latin obscenitatem (nominative obscenitas) "inauspiciousness, filthiness," from obscenus "offensive" (see obscene). Meaning "a foul or loathsome act" is 1610s. Sense of "an obscene utterance or word" is attested by 1690. Related: Obscenities.
obscenity
Behavior, appearance, or expression (such as films and books) that violate accepted standards of sexual morality. American courts have long tried to define obscenity but without much success. Some believe, for example, that any depiction of nudity is obscene; others would argue that nudity in itself is not obscene. (See four-letter words (see also four-letter words) and pornography.)