variants
also tabu
as in forbidden
that may not be permitted
asking a guest how much money he or she makes is strictly taboo because it's a rude question to ask a stranger
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also tabu
1
as in prohibition
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in anathema
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of taboo
ABC News, 23 Feb. 2026
But unlike the dark-romance trope in novels and fanfiction, which centers on taboo relationships and morally gray characters, these looks are less about shock value and more about heightened emotion.
—Jesa Marie Calaor, Allure, 10 Feb. 2026
ABC News, 10 Mar. 2026
Trump has embraced unilateral uses of force — including the once-taboo targeting of heads of state, a Harvard professor noted — to achieve his foreign policy goals.
—semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for taboo
Adjective
Series about once-taboo topics, like torture in Assad’s notorious prisons, are being shot inside Syria.
—ABC News, 23 Feb. 2026
But unlike the dark-romance trope in novels and fanfiction, which centers on taboo relationships and morally gray characters, these looks are less about shock value and more about heightened emotion.
—Jesa Marie Calaor, Allure, 10 Feb. 2026
Noun
With Liu's rise, her father's story bubbled up in China's social media, though any mention was usually brief and cryptic because the 1989 Tiananmen Movement — generally known as 6-4 for the date of the military crackdown, remains a deeply sensitive political taboo in China 37 years later.
—ABC News, 10 Mar. 2026
Trump has embraced unilateral uses of force — including the once-taboo targeting of heads of state, a Harvard professor noted — to achieve his foreign policy goals.
—semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for taboo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for taboo
Adjective
-
Women, whether secular or religious, remain forbidden to read, write or tell stories.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
-
One of Japan’s most beloved television personalities — and a perennial favorite-host winner — Matsuko brings her sharp insight and commanding presence to a forbidden auction staged in a mysterious underground space.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
But the organization is retaining its wider prohibition against receiving transfusions of others' blood -- a procedure routinely used with patients after accidents, violence or other blood loss.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
21 Mar. 2026
-
But the organization is retaining its wider prohibition against receiving transfusions of others' blood — a procedure routinely used with patients after accidents, violence or other blood loss.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The two media personalities have come to represent an emerging, anti-Israel wing of the Republican party that indulges in antisemitic conspiracy theories and is anathema to the RJC and its rank-and-file.—
Joseph Strauss,
Sun Sentinel,
16 Mar. 2026
-
After all, the concept is considered antithetical or anathema to the Iranian Revolution, which deposed the monarchy led by the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in 1979.—
Eric Lob,
The Conversation,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
There is, however, room for questions about where the line between prohibited and acceptable political involvement will fall in practice.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
11 July 2025
-
The list of prohibited and restricted items, as found on the CBP website, includes alcohol, biological materials, firearms, food and produce such as fruits and vegetables, soil, wildlife, fish, and gold, among other items.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The dishwasher was working without any sanitizer, which is a no-no.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
20 Mar. 2026
-
We were rationed, so bacon was usually a no-no.—
Ruthie Rogers,
Air Mail,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Yes, the opening animation was an abomination, but what followed was almost — almost — enough to make up for it.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Orthodox Jews viewed the pop-up novelty with its mixed troupes as an abomination, but young female actors and singers embraced the emancipatory promise of the stage.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Hundreds of thousands of barrels of Russian oil are headed to Cuba, in a test of Washington’s embargo on the island nation.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
20 Mar. 2026
-
The 1973 oil embargo, triggered after the Yom Kippur War, pushed the US economy into recession and helped squeeze studio budgets that were already under strain.—
Maxwell Adler,
Vanity Fair,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But there’s more to it than gleeful perversions of genre.—
Carolina A. Miranda,
The Atlantic,
5 Mar. 2026
-
This garish cavalcade of perversions, which just premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, should have been shocking and transgressive; the pieces are certainly there.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
15 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Taboo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/taboo. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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