obscene

Etymology

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-).

adj

1. Offensive to standards of decency or morality.
   Neither do wee pleaſe them with their owne crimes, or obſcæne ſpectacles: whereas they celebrate both the guilt that there gods incurred who were men, and the fayned pleaſures of ſuch of them as were flat deuills. 1610, S[ain]t Augustine, “Of the Honor that Christians Giue to the Martires”, in J[ohn] H[ealey], transl., St. Augustine, of the Citie of God:[…], [London]: […] George Eld, →OCLC, page 336
   Shall I recount his intemperance, voluptuouſneſs, and obſcæne manner of living? or his impious, doubtful or wicked end? no, let them be buried with his aſhes. 1654, Jo[hn] Webster, “Of Scholastick Philosophy”, in Academiarum Examen, or The Examination of Academies.[…], London: […] Giles Calvert,[…], →OCLC, paragraph 3, page 54
   What is obscene today may not be so tomorrow or what is obscene at one place may not be obscene at another place. 1990, Inder S. Rana, Law of Obscenity in India, USA & UK, New Delhi: Mittal Publications, page 109
   The chapter closes with some thoughts on the obscene consumer from both a postmodern, and especially a modern, perspective. From the latter point of view, the obscene consumer is one who either consumes too little or who consumes what are, from the perspective of consumer society, the 'wrong' things (heroin, guns). (I propose the concept of the 'dangerous consumer' here since it is clear that such consumers can pose a danger to contemporary society.) From a postmodern perspective, the obscene consumer is one who consumes in a highly visible manner. 2001, George Ritzer, Explorations in the Sociology of Consumption: Fast Food, Credit Cards and Casinos, London, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, pages 8–9
   South Park, at the end of the twentieth century, earned international acclaim as the most obscene, scatological, sacrilegious, and popular comedy in the American mainstream and became a leading profit center for Comedy Central. 2009, Lori Lipoma, “Kirkegaard, Contradiction, and South Park: The Jester’s View of Religion”, in Leslie Stratyner, James R. Keller, editors, The Deep End of South Park: Critical Essays on Television’s Shocking Cartoon Series, Jefferson, N.C., London: McFarland & Company, page 18
   However, the new is not radical or provocative or obscene a priori. Provocation develops when the 'communicative contract' between the clothing and the consumer is broken, resulting in shocked rejection or euphoric acceptance. 2009, Ingrid Loschek, “When is Creativity?”, in Lucinda Rennison, transl., When Clothes become Fashion: Design and Innovation Systems, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Berg, part II (Invention and Innovation), page 39
2. Lewd or lustful.
   Playes are the nurseries of vice, the bawd, / That thorow the senses steales our hearts abroad, / Tainting our eares with obscæne bawdery, / Lascivious words, and wanton ribaulry. 1629, Fra[ncis] Lenton, “Section XIV. The Young Gallant’s Whirlgig.”, in James Orchard Halliwell, editor, The Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, an Ancient Interlude.[…], London: […] Shakespeare Society, published 1846, →OCLC, page 129
   All masturbation is obscene, for [Roger] Scruton, also because it "involves a concentration on the body and its curious pleasures" …. 1996, Alan Soble, “Masturbation”, in Sexual Investigations, New York, N.Y.: New York University Press, page 104
   Obscene phone calling is usually considered a nuisance to the women receiving such calls from a man who makes obscene suggestions or describes his masturbation over the telephone. 25 August 2004, Victor T. Cheney, “Other Sex-related Problems”, in The Sex Offenses and their Treatments: The Problem—The Solution—Commentary, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, page 223
   He Justin Martyr] asks how pagan gods who exhibit the same destructive passions and obscene desires as wicked humans can be worthy of worship. 2011, Chanon R. Ross, “Obscenity”, in Joel B. Green, editor, Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, Baker Publishing Group, page 560, column 2
   I was contacted about a two-year-old Latino male and informed that his behavior was obscene. I was advised about this by two female relatives to the child. They had a hard time explaining to me that the boy wanted to have relations with his grandmother. … This boy was demon spirit possessed! 2011, Alberto Salinas, Jr., “Actual Demon Possession Cases”, in The Border Healer: My Life as a Curandero, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, part 4 (Demon Possession and Exorcism), page 123
   One of his Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's] contradictions, which is puzzling, comes from his objectivity, stubbornness, and great interest in abusive words and obscene jokes, despite his religiousness and his chastity, which he refused to abandon during his life. 10 January 2013, Naser Hegazy, “Mozart’s Genius”, in Secrets of Love, Marriage, Sex, Genius, Success, and Happiness: Analytic View According to the Recent Scientific Studies, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, part 4 (Secrets of Genius), page 106
3. Disgusting or repulsive.
   The reminder of who we were / made the canned laughter obscene. / Disgusted, mother returned to the kitchen, / her thoughts private. 2002 October, Susanne Heinz, Deborah Miller, “Hogan’s Heroes”, in Grandmother’s Radio: Echoes from the Holocaust, Calgary, Alta.: Bayeux Arts, page 66
   Her mom made her break up with me when she found a note I wrote to Linda; she found it obscene. I found HER obscene. 12 February 2014, Scott Ludwig, “October”, in My Life: Everything but BUY THE BOOK!: Part 2 of 2, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse
   Mass shootings occur for a variety of reasons, including social frustration, alienation, detachment, and mental instability. … Of course it is very difficult to pinpoint why someone would resort to such obscene violence. 2017, Kyle W. Letteney, “Self-inflicted Wound: On the Paradoxical Dimensions of American Violence”, in Tatiana Savoia Landini, François Dépelteau, editors, Norbert Elias and Violence, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature, →DOI, part II (Strengths and Limits), page 149
4. (by extension) Beyond all reason; excessive.
   "You ate an obscene amount of those lobster patties last night, Deb." / "And I plan to eat an obscene amount of them tonight as well," I replied. 1999, Joan Wolf, chapter 4, in The Pretenders, [San Francisco, Calif.]: Untreed Reads, published 2020
   She would probably jump at the chance to show everyone how to save an obscene amount of money with an obscene amount of coupons. 2015 February, Vivi Barnes, chapter 18, in Stacy Abrams, Tara Quigley, editors, Paper or Plastic, Fort Collins, Colo.: Entangled Teen, Entangled Publishing
   I was never jealous or envious when it came to things. The fact that Mama wanted to shower my friend with presents never affected me. Things meant nothing to me because I had an obscene quantity of everything. 2016, Marcela Del Sol, Kaleidoscope: My Life’s Multiple Reflections, Calwell, Canberra, A.C.T.: Inspiring Publishers, page 102
5. (chiefly Britain, criminal law) Liable to corrupt or deprave.
   For the purposes of this Act an article shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect or (where the article comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it. 29 August 1959, Obscene Publications Act 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz. II, chapter 66), London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-08-04, section 1(1)
   The tract was far more political and religious than sexual, but Cockburn Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet] found it obscene because it would suggest to young persons (of either sex) "impure and libidinous" thoughts. 2006, Philip A. Dynia, “Obscenity”, in Paul Finkelman, editor, Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties, volumes 2 (G–Q), New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, page 1116, column 1
   The principle that obscene material must have more serious effects than arousing feelings of revulsion leads to the doctrine that material that in fact shocks and disgusts may not be obscene, since its effect is to discourage readers from indulgence in the immorality so unappetizingly portrayed. 2009, Andrea Millwood Hargrave, Sonia M. Livingstone, “Annex II: The Legal Framework of English Law Regulating Media Content”, in Harm and Offence in Media Content: A Review of the Evidence, 2nd edition, Fishponds, Bristol, Chicago, Ill.: Intellect Books, pages 282–283
   An article is not obscene simply because it is repulsive or filthy. The prosecution must prove that its tendency is strong enough actually to deprave and corrupt a significant proportion of its likely audience; in other words, to pervert or corrupt their morals sufficiently for it to constitute a public menace. … Anything tending to deprave or corrupt may be obscene, including material encouraging the taking of dangerous drugs or glorifying violence, particularly if it is expressly targeted at children or adolescents. 2016, Hugh Jones, Christopher Benson, “Defamation and Other Risks”, in Publishing Law, 5th edition, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, part IV (Publish and Be Damned), page 228

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive, rare) To act or speak in an obscene manner; to offend.
   They passed the little stenchy cubicles shared by two families to a floor, and the graffiti gratuitously graven onto the walls, obscening the world and telling it, them, those, the fuzz, and everyone to go and . . . 1960 October, Sol Yurick, “The Annealing”, in The Noble Savage, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Meridian Books, Inc., →LCCN, page 111
   That always came as a final apotheosis, showing Phil deep in hell, growling through Greek fire and blue smoke – that is to say, locked upstairs in the bathroom, obscening at her as he never in his life obscened at anybody in public, strangling her with his two fists, shoving her head down into the W.C. and pulling the chain on her for good and all. 1970, Sean O’Faolain, “Hymeneal”, in The Talking Trees and Other Stories, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →LCCN, page 49
   “Fucked up, is what they are,” the priest obscened. “Pardon my language, but this is par for the course of the Catholic Church. What kind of bullshit is this?” 2004, Edward Lee, The Bighead, Hiram, GA: Overlook Connection Press, page 143