1
as in curse
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression
a rap song that is filled with profanities
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in vulgarity
the quality or state of being obscene
once notorious for its profanity, that 1950s best seller will strike today's readers as lamentably tame
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of profanity
At one point during the conversation, an impassioned Campbell let some profanity slip.
—
Chantz Martin, Fox News, 18 Dec. 2024
Another Narbonne player who was ejected, Domo Phillips, won’t be able to play Friday for using profanity.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2024
O’Hara’s text has a sitcom patter to it with transparent laugh lines that feel almost like Neil Simon with more atmospheric profanity.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
Trump's tone has also been darker in this campaign, and his use of profanity has proliferated.
—David Jackson, USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for profanity 
Chantz Martin, Fox News, 18 Dec. 2024
Another Narbonne player who was ejected, Domo Phillips, won’t be able to play Friday for using profanity.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2024
O’Hara’s text has a sitcom patter to it with transparent laugh lines that feel almost like Neil Simon with more atmospheric profanity.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
Trump's tone has also been darker in this campaign, and his use of profanity has proliferated.
—David Jackson, USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for profanity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profanity
Noun
-
And anyone who believed in curses was gaining some evidence.—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
19 Jan. 2025
-
Cubs fan sabotages his own team and extends the most infamous curse in MLB history During Game 6 of the 2003 National League Division vs. the then-Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman reached out and grabbed a ball that could have been caught.—
Jackson Thompson,
Fox News,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Corbet’s awkward forcing of his characters into his conceptual framework leads to absurdities and vulgarities—not least in the depiction of László’s first and only Black acquaintance, a laborer named Gordon (Isaach De Bankolé), as a heroin addict.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
3 Jan. 2025
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Some council members who took issue with the sign relented after then-Metro Council attorney Mike Jameson advised that rejecting Rock's sign due to vulgarity or obscenity could lead to a First Amendment lawsuit.—
Cassandra Stephenson,
The Tennessean,
22 May 2024
Noun
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Part of the reason behind that was to control for differences between morphologically rich languages, where a single word may correspond to multiple words in morphologically simple languages.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
15 Jan. 2025
-
Lighting too forms a kind of architectural language, with track fixtures, uplights, and Ingo Maurer icons casting a calm collective glow.—
Sam Cochran,
Architectural Digest,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The station asked the band not to include the swears.—
Kris Holt,
Forbes,
2 Dec. 2024
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There’s a heavy focus on Asia’s first One&Only spa, featuring a green caviar body exfoliation and an Augustinus Bader facial celebs swear by.—
Katie Lockhart,
Robb Report,
11 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Back in the 1920s, several residents of the seaside town of Littlehampton in England began receiving poison pen letters rife with obscenities and false rumors.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
23 Dec. 2024
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In short: Your former co-worker needs to cut this [obscenity redacted] out.—
Anna Holmes,
New York Times,
24 Nov. 2024
Noun
-
Peppiatt’s Irish-language film, riddled with expletives, hallucinogenics and baton twirling mischief, swept up at the British Independent Film Awards in December and on Wednesday, scored six BAFTA nods, including for best British film and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.—
Lily Ford,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Jan. 2025
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During an initial court appearance Monday, Lever used an expletive to describe the district judge overseeing his case, NBC affiliate WITN of Greenville reported.—
Tim Stelloh,
NBC News,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
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And, when the alarm wails hours before dawn, human cusses of angry protest join the chorus of budget appliances failing before their time.—
Virginia Konchan,
The New Yorker,
30 Sep. 2024
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My grandmother extended a ladder up into this tough old cuss of a tree and climbed up, at some risk, to pick the bulging fruit.—
Jim Meddleton,
The Christian Science Monitor,
1 May 2024
Noun
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As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, the expression not hardly is considered a vulgarism.—
NR Editors,
National Review,
16 Apr. 2020
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The British cringed over new American accents, coinages and vulgarisms.—
Time,
Time,
11 June 2019
Thesaurus Entries Near profanity
Cite this Entry
“Profanity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profanity. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.
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