taboo
or ta·bu
proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable: Taboo language is usually bleeped on TV.
prohibited or excluded from use or practice: In art school, painting from photographs was taboo.
(among the Polynesians and other peoples of the South Pacific) separated or set apart as sacred; forbidden for general use; placed under a prohibition or ban.
a prohibition or interdiction of anything; exclusion from use or practice: One of the strongest taboos in all modern societies is against incest.
(among the Polynesians and other peoples of the South Pacific)
the system, practice, or act whereby things are set apart as sacred, forbidden for general use, or placed under a prohibition or interdiction.
the condition of being so set apart, forbidden, or interdicted.
exclusion from social relations; ostracism.
to put under a taboo; prohibit or forbid.
to ostracize (a person, group, etc.): While he is tabooed, no one may speak to him.
Origin of taboo
1synonym study For taboo
word story For taboo
Tabu is also the variant in some other Polynesian languages of Melanesia and Micronesia. In Maori (the Polynesian language spoken on New Zealand), the form is tapu, which is also the reconstructed Proto-Polynesian form. Hawaiian has the variant kapu (Hawaiian changes Polynesian initial t- to k- ).
Use of tabu, taboo as a noun and verb is only in English: all the Polynesian forms are adjectives.
Other words for taboo
1 | prohibited, banned, forbidden, proscribed |
3 | sacrosanct, inviolable |
4 | ban, proscription, embargo, interdiction; no-no |
7 | prohibit, ban, forbid, proscribe |
Opposites for taboo
1 | allowed, permitted, permissible; sanctioned |
7 | allow, permit, sanction |
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for taboo
tabu
/ (təˈbuː) /
forbidden or disapproved of; placed under a social prohibition or ban: taboo words
(in Polynesia and other islands of the South Pacific) marked off as simultaneously sacred and forbidden
any prohibition resulting from social or other conventions
ritual restriction or prohibition, esp of something that is considered holy or unclean
(tr) to place under a taboo
Origin of taboo
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for taboo
A descriptive term for words, objects, actions, or people that are forbidden by a group or culture. The expression comes from the religion of islanders of the South Pacific.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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