Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The condition or quality of being profane.
  • noun Abusive, vulgar, or irreverent language.
  • noun The use of such language.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Profaneness; the quality of being profane.
  • noun That which is profane; profane language or conduct.
  • noun Synonyms Blasphemy, Profanity. See blasphemy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or state of being profane; profaneness; irreverence; esp., the use of profane language; blasphemy.
  • noun That which is profane; profane language or acts.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The quality of being profane.
  • noun countable Obscene, lewd or abusive language.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun vulgar or irreverent speech or action

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

profane +‎ -ity

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Examples

  • For example, if you want to make sure that your posts and comments contain no profanity, you might define a global variable with a list of forbidden words, and then create the following PHP function: function filter_profanity ($content) {global $profanities; foreach ($profanities as $profanity) {

    Codex - Recent changes [en] Liuming 2010

  • For example, if you want to make sure that your posts and comments contain no profanity, you might define a global variable with a list of forbidden words, and then create the following PHP function: function filter_profanity ($content) {global $profanities; foreach ($profanities as $profanity) {

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • And the profanity is a method of “ridicule” designed to demonstrate you are so vile and pathetic you are unworthy of common decency.

    Think Progress » Fox News Devastated Over Arrest Of ACORN Pimp, Says The Story Probably Needs ‘A Lot Of Context’ 2010

  • The FCC's expansion of its jurisdiction to cover what it defines as profanity puts that assumption under a great deal of strain.

    Balkinization 2004

  • The only context in which "profanity" is considered out-of-bounds on this blog is that of abusive bigotry, dig?

    An A-Z Of This Blog Hal Duncan 2007

  • The only context in which "profanity" is considered out-of-bounds on this blog is that of abusive bigotry, dig?

    Archive 2007-12-01 Hal Duncan 2007

  • All the inuendo, sexual references and “clean” profanity is an attempt by the weirdos in california to corrupt our kids.

    'Cloudy with a Chance of...' adult entertainment | EW.com 2009

  • LYDEN: With Martin Scorsese, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind gangster epics such as "Good Fellas," "Casino" and "The Departed," blood and profanity is perhaps no surprise.

    Women Take Strong Lead In New HBO Gangster Epic 2010

  • Psychology or Family Studies courses, although the profanity is considerable.

    February 2009 2009

  • The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed the lawsuits earlier, argues that the right to use profanity is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

    ACLU Sues to Protect Right to Swear | Impact Lab 2010

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