obscene
ob·scene/əbˈsin/adjective, verb
obscene is spelled O-B-S-C-E-N-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (ob·scene). It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, obscene means “Offensive to standards of decency or morality” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in obscene?
| Letters | 7: O-B-S-C-E-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ob·scene |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is obscene?
Obscene appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce obscene?
- UK /əbˈsiːn/
- US /əbˈsin/
- Australia /əbˈsiːn/
Obscene has 2 syllables, split ob·scene in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-obscene.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with obscene?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as obscene from its last stressed vowel (/in/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of obscene
- obscener comparative
- more obscene comparative
- obscenest superlative
- most obscene superlative
- obscenes present, singular, he/she/it
- obscening participle, present
- obscened participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does obscene mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Offensive to standards of decency or morality.
- 2
Lewd or lustful.
- 3
Disgusting or repulsive.
- 4
Beyond all reason; excessive.
- 5
UKLiable to corrupt or deprave.
verb
- 1
rareTo act or speak in an obscene manner; to offend.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Obscene in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does obscene come from?
From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obscēnus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂iwo-).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).