Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

profanity

/pɹəˈfænɪti/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.06 in modern English

Syllables: pro-fan-i-ty
IPA: /pɹəˈfænɪti/

17

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The quality of being profane; quality of irreverence, of treating sacred things with contempt.

Uncountable

noun

Obscene, lewd or abusive language.

Countable

Example Sentences

"The overwhelming power of his imagination led him to contemplate acts of impiety and profanity, and to a vivid realisation of the dangers these involved."
"He ran up and down the street screaming profanities like a madman."
"Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself."
"Mr. [Kash] Patel said he would not tolerate any more “Mickey Mouse operations,” an official on the call recounted. It was one of his few utterances without profanity, the person added."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin profānitās. By surface analysis, profane + -ity.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: profānitās

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /pɹəˈfænɪti/
British English: /pɹəˈfænɪti/

Usage

Inflected Forms

profanities (plural) prophanity (alternative)

Derived Forms

antiprofanity

Phrases

profanity delay

Synonyms

swear word curse word vulgarity

Rhymes With

vanity insanity sanity inhumanity

Questions

How do you pronounce profanity?: The recorded pronunciation is /pɹəˈfænɪti/.
What does profanity mean?: The quality of being profane; quality of irreverence, of treating sacred things with contempt.
Where does profanity come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce profanity

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “profanity”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pɹəˈfænɪti/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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