obscene

adj.

1. Offensive to accepted standards of decency or modesty.
2. Inciting lustful feelings; lewd.
3. Repulsive; disgusting: "The way he writes about the disease that killed her is simply obscene" (Michael Korda).
4. So large in amount as to be objectionable or outrageous: "local merchants in nearby stores get hammered by stratospheric rents and obscene taxes" (Joe Queenan).

[Latin obscēnus.]

obscenely ob·scene'ly adv.

adjective

1. Offensive to accepted standards of decency: barnyard, bawdy, broad, coarse, dirty, Fescennine, filthy, foul, gross, lewd, nasty, profane, ribald, scatologic, scatological, scurrilous, smutty, vulgar. Slang raunchy. See decent/indecent.
2. Beyond all reason: outrageous, preposterous, ridiculous, shocking, unconscionable, unreasonable. Idioms: out of bounds, out of sight. See usual/unusual.

adj

Definition: indecent, offensive, immoral
Antonyms: clean, decent, innocent, moral, pure, upright

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Offensive to recognized standards of decency.

The term obscene is applied to written, verbal, or visual works or conduct that treat sex in an objectionable or lewd or lascivious manner. Although the First Amendment guarantees freedom of expression, such constitutional protection is not extended to obscene works. To determine whether a work is obscene, the trier of fact applies the guidelines established by the Supreme Court in the case of Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (1973): whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the work depicting or describing sexual conduct when taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; whether the work does so in a patently offensive way; and whether when taken as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

See: freedom of speech; pornography.

IN BRIEF: Against one's sense of what is decent.

They found the violence in the film to be obscene and quickly left the theater.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - obskøn, uanstændig, sjofel, afskyelig, pornografisk

Nederlands (Dutch)
obsceen, gemeen, vuil

Français (French)
adj. - obscène, indécent, monstrueux

Deutsch (German)
adj. - obszön, unanständig, ekelerregend

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - άσεμνος, αισχρός, χυδαίος, (καθομ.) εντελώς απαράδεκτος, αποκρουστικός, (για δημοσίευμα κ.λπ.) πορνογραφικός

Italiano (Italian)
osceno, turpe, impudico, disgustoso, ripugnante

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - obsceno

Русский (Russian)
непристойный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - obsceno, indecente

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - oanständig, motbjudande

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
淫秽的, 猥亵的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 淫穢的, 猥褻的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 외설적인, 지겨운

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - わいせつな, みだらな

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) فاحش‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮גס, של תועבה‬

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