Hypertext Webster Gateway: "obscenity"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Obscenity \Ob*scen"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Obscenities}. [L. obscentias:
cf.F. obsc['e]nit['e].]
That quality in words or things which presents what is
offensive to chasity or purity of mind; obscene or impure
lanquage or acts; moral impurity; lewdness; obsceneness; as,
the obscenity of a speech, or a picture.
Mr.Cowley asserts plainly, that obscenity has no place
in wit. --Dryden.
No pardon vile obscenity should find. --Pope.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
obscenity
n 1: the trait of behaving in an obscene manner [syn: {lewdness},
{bawdiness}, {salaciousness}, {salacity}]
2: obscene word or phrase [syn: {vulgarism}]
3: an obscene act
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