obscenity
noun
obscenity is spelled O-B-S-C-E-N-I-T-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, obscenity means “Something that is obscene” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of obscenity is obscenities.
How many letters and syllables are in obscenity?
| Letters | 9: O-B-S-C-E-N-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is obscenity?
Obscenity appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th 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 obscenity?
- US
Obscenity has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-obscenity.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of obscenity
- obscenities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does obscenity mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something that is obscene.
Martha wouldn't go into the art museum because, as she put it, "They have obscenities just sitting out, on display!"
- 2
An act of obscene behaviour.
Bestiality was outlawed as an obscenity in the strongly conservative community.
- 3
Specifically, an offensive word; a profanity; a dirty word.
Eliza couldn't stand her daughter's music; as she saw it, it was just shouted obscenities and a heavy drum beat.
- 4
Lewdness, indecency, or offensive behaviour or material.
The coalition of religious conservatives was campaigning against, in their view, rampant obscenity in the entertainment industry.
- 5
The fact of being obscene.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Obscenity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense something that is obscene:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | obscénité |
| German | Obszönität |
| Portuguese | obscenidade |
| Spanish | obscenidad |
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 obscenity come from?
From obscene + -ity, from Latin obscenitas.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).