1
as in curse
a disrespectful or indecent word or expression
a rap song that is filled with profanities
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of profanity
Police also used heavy force against members of the media and used loudspeakers to shout profanities and insults at the crowds.
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Sophiko Megrelidze, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2024
Any submissions that include profanity or other inappropriate language will not be considered, Washington County officials said.
—Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 25 Nov. 2024
Over the weekend, he's dropped a lot of profanities in his rallies.
—Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 23 Oct. 2024
The screenplay, which was written by Mamet himself, has been celebrated for its razor-sharp dialogue, which blends profanity, wit and raw emotion in a manner that reminds many critics of Aaron Sorkin—not a bad comparison.
—Travis Bean, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for profanity 
Sophiko Megrelidze, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2024
Any submissions that include profanity or other inappropriate language will not be considered, Washington County officials said.
—Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 25 Nov. 2024
Over the weekend, he's dropped a lot of profanities in his rallies.
—Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 23 Oct. 2024
The screenplay, which was written by Mamet himself, has been celebrated for its razor-sharp dialogue, which blends profanity, wit and raw emotion in a manner that reminds many critics of Aaron Sorkin—not a bad comparison.
—Travis Bean, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for profanity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profanity
Noun
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Financial Education Is Wealth The third-generation wealth curse often befalls families where younger generations, especially grandchildren, are detached from how their predecessors went about building wealth.Next Avenue, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
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For high-achieving professionals, especially those who are naturally more sensitive and perceptive, emotional investment in work can be both a blessing and a curse.Melody Wilding, Contributor, CNBC, 19 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Miss Manners is relieved not to be asked what to do about that vulgarity.Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 16 Dec. 2024
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In short, when faced with a genuine choice between civility and decency versus vulgarity and indecency, most Americans who voted in the 2024 elections opted for the latter.Mordechai Gordon, Hartford Courant, 12 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Use neutral, factual language to ensure the message remains honest and unbiased.Tina Gada, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
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Onto the page spilled more than ten thousand lines of the richest and most resourceful blank verse in the English language, arranged into ten books in 1667, then rearranged into twelve in 1674.Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
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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In short: Your former co-worker needs to cut this [obscenity redacted] out.Anna Holmes, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024
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Why do opponents use an obscenity in their signs? Jeanne Woodbury, an activist who works with the lobbying firm Creosote Partners, put up 10 campaign signs around the Phoenix area opposing Proposition 138.Ray Stern, The Arizona Republic, 18 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Videos showed the angry group shouting expletives as Mayweather’s security attempted to get him into a black SUV and away from the scene.Paulina Dedaj, Fox News, 11 Dec. 2024
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His irreverent sense of humor — delivered amid expletives and with a childlike grin that belies his 61 years — seems to have carried him through the relentless five years of work.Thomas Adamson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
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 30 Dec. 2024.
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