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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of profanity
The company was formed after its predecessor, VidAngel, reorganized in bankruptcy following a $62 million judgment against it for distributing unlicensed content that censored graphic violence, nudity and profanity in films and TV shows.
—
Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 26 Mar. 2025
Some of the building’s windows had been smashed and profanities scrawled on the walls.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
Being attentive to nuances in how curse words are used in different settings can guide you toward a more productive relationship with profanity.
—Stacey Colino, Time, 1 Apr. 2025
But putting the two performances against each other keeps drawing our attention to the phoniness of De Niro’s turn as Genovese, to its prefab energy and programmed profanity.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for profanity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profanity
Noun
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The annual cost-of-living adjustment Social Security recipients receive is both a blessing and a curse.—
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Homewood’s location on the western shore of Lake Tahoe is both a blessing and a curse.—
Noun
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The banal village tunes that Mahler altered into sinister mock vulgarities—did these not recall the raffish klezmer bands, the wandering musicians who played at shtetl weddings?—
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The real marvel, in this instance, being the avoidance of vulgarity.—
Noun
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That echoes language used by former President Joe Biden, who championed US alliances and sought to bring American partners in Asia closer together on security cooperation in the face of what the US sees as a growing security threat from Beijing.—
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Advanced tools like optical character recognition (OCR) and natural language processing (NLP) extract key data— for example, sender details, dates, and document types — instantly. 2.—
Noun
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Could a nice good swear on the pitch to express one’s anger stop a player from lashing out physically, channelling their anger through their vocal cords rather than their fists?—
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The station asked the band not to include the swears.—
Noun
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Aspinwall Police Chief David Nemec told Pittsburgh news station WTAE that the man got out of his vehicle, walked to the sidewalk and began shouting obscenities at the house and the flag.—
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Before some of you Jets fans direct obscenities in my direction, hear me out for a minute.—
Noun
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Many of us try to suppress the urge to blurt out an expletive when something goes wrong.—
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The notes named a woman, with expletives and accusations written about her, according to court records.—
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.—
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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.—
Noun
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As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, the expression not hardly is considered a vulgarism.—
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The British cringed over new American accents, coinages and vulgarisms.—
Cite this Entry
“Profanity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profanity. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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