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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of profanity
Instagram’s filters screen out content outside PG-13 norms, including strong profanity, depictions of drug use or dangerous stunts.
—
Larry Magid, Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2025
Hosts like Kristen Stewart, Sam Rockwell and Ariana Grande have all dropped uncensored profanity during their monologues or sketches.
—William Earl, Variety, 19 Oct. 2025
Insults and profanity were heard in a fan’s video of the exchange.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Oct. 2025
Kid Rock took aim at Live Nation Entertainment and its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster in a profanity-laden diatribe posted to social media on Tuesday.
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for profanity
Larry Magid, Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2025
Hosts like Kristen Stewart, Sam Rockwell and Ariana Grande have all dropped uncensored profanity during their monologues or sketches.
—William Earl, Variety, 19 Oct. 2025
Insults and profanity were heard in a fan’s video of the exchange.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Oct. 2025
Kid Rock took aim at Live Nation Entertainment and its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster in a profanity-laden diatribe posted to social media on Tuesday.
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for profanity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profanity
Noun
-
In part, this is just a curse of timing for the tournaments being played.—
The Athletic Tennis Staff,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
-
In Jujutsu Kaisen, heroic jujutsu sorcerers wage war against demonic creatures called curses and the curse users, who wield jujutsu powers for evil.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
1 Jan. 2026
Noun
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With its insistent, obsessive patter, not to mention its unrelenting commitment to in-your-face vulgarity, Sherman’s comedy is hardly for everyone.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
6 Dec. 2025
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The artist’s way, of course, is sincere, even if in the case of Dracula, sincerity begets just under three hours of unsparing cultural commentary and full goose bozo vulgarity.—
Andy Crump,
Time,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In a similar vein, Timnit Gebru, a computer scientist writing during her time working at Google, warned of the dangers of large language models acting as stochastic parrots, which repeat language patterns without understanding, and in doing so replicate the biases embedded in their training data.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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The dust-up stems back to the Spanish singer’s recent appearance on the New York Times’ Popcast, where she was asked about singing in about 13 different languages one her new album Lux and the challenges of communicating with a global audience.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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He is charged with open and lewd grossness.—
Flint McColgan,
Boston Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
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In fact, plenty of other things in your home surpass the toilet in terms of grossness.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Proponents of the shake method swear that shaking out your laundry will prevent tangling, make drying more efficient, and reduce wrinkles in the process.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
3 Nov. 2025
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Visitors of years past swear by their trick-or-treating hauls from these affluent neighborhoods, specifically the homes of Marissa Meyer (Professorville), Mark Zuckerberg (Crescent Park) and Larry Page and Laurene Powell Jobs (Old Palo Alto).—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Why did so many people in states with Democrat-majority governments want to keep the COVID emergency going, want it so badly that all rational arguments offered in support of reopening were ignored or answered with obscenity-laden accusations of grandma-killing?—
Susan Shelley,
Oc Register,
7 Jan. 2026
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Pandering obscenity is a felony and could mean eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine for McCollister if he is convicted.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
28 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Piker went on to make a series of lewd remarks, using expletives to refer to and address former Governor Cuomo.—
Sirena Bergman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
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The resident exited the vehicle and uttered an expletive.—
Natasha Korecki,
NBC news,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
There’s some rudeness, aggressive conversations, and crudeness, but nothing too over the top.—
Lynnette Nicholas,
Parents,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Profanity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profanity. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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