Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

obscene

/əbˈsin/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.46 in modern English

Syllables
ob-scene
IPA
/əbˈsin/
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Lewd or lustful.

adj

Beyond all reason; excessive.

adj

Liable to corrupt or deprave.

British usage

verb

To act or speak in an obscene manner; to offend.

Example Sentences

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-). If from caenum, the unexpected extra -s- may be from a variant form of the original PIE root; a similar -s- exists in ex-.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *ḱweyn-, obscene, obscēnus

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /əbˈsin/
  • British English: /əbˈsiːn/

Usage

Inflected Forms

obscener (comparative) more obscene (comparative) obscenest (superlative) most obscene (superlative) obscæne (alternative, archaic) obscenes (present, singular) obscening (participle, present) obscened (participle, past) obscened (past)

Derived Forms

Frequently Paired Words

obscenity obscenous obscenousness

Synonyms

Antonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce obscene?
The recorded pronunciation is /əbˈsin/.
What does obscene mean?
Offensive to standards of decency or morality.
Where does obscene come from?
It is traced to Middle French.

How to pronounce obscene

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “obscene”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/əbˈsin/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “obscene”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “obscene” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.