scurrility

American  

[skuh-ril-i-tee] / skəˈrɪl ɪ ti /

noun

scurrilities plural

1. a scurrilous quality or condition.

2. a scurrilous remark or attack.

   Synonyms:

   vulgarity, indecency, invective, vilification, abuse, vituperation

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• scurrilities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scurrility

From the Latin word scurrīlitās, dating back to 1500–10. See scurrile, -ity

Explanation

The word scurrility refers to foul or vulgar language that’s meant to insult or offend, like mean-spirited jokes or cruel gossip. Scurrility comes from the Latin word scurrilis, meaning "buffoonish" or "jesting," hinting at the lowbrow nature of scurrilous language. Historically, scurrility was associated with harsh jokes or crude remarks made to entertain at someone else’s expense. Today, this noun is used to describe language or behavior that crosses the line from humor into outright rudeness, often stirring conflict rather than laughter.

Example Sentences

His successor, too, resigned under a barrage of anonymous scurrility.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a little more than two years, a 25� magazine called Confidential, based on the proposition that millions like to wallow in scurrility, has become the biggest newsstand seller in the U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

Targets: Soviet sentimentalism, windbaggery on Capitol Hill, the dollar chase in Big Business, journalistic scurrility on a big picture magazine.

From Time Magazine Archive

Against his enemies, or his imagined enemies, he was capable, in Ollard's words, of "scurrility verging at times on the hysterical."

From Time Magazine Archive

The last of May of the first year he had brought all his charges against Grafton, and to them there had been no response but "the flat general charge of scurrility and falsehood."

From Junius Unmasked or, Thomas Paine the author of the Letters of Junius and the Declaration of Independence by Moody, Joel