taboo
adjective
proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable.
tabu
-
a variation of
taboo.
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.
The village formed a youth group in 2011 to manage what they call the "tabu area", and the group leads the effort to plant corals and encourage a healthy ecosystem.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
George notes that our word “taboo” is believed to derive from one of two Polynesian words: tapua, which means “menstruation,” or tabu, which means “apart.”
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019
The tabu on horses and dogs thus renders unthinkable the consumption of a set of animals whose production is practically feasible and which are nutritionally not to be despised.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 6, 2013
Beneath the comic excessiveness of his meditations can be glimpsed some somber spiritual shadows: "Everything was out of the closet, every tabu broken, and still God kept His back turned, refusing to set limits."
From Time Magazine Archive
They made the place tabu, and used the clay, sometimes eating it, but generally plastering the hair with it.
From Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology) Collected and Translated from the Hawaiian by W. D. (William Drake) Westervelt
