• adj. 淫穢的；猥褻的；可憎的

來自拉丁語obscenus,冒犯的，來自obscaena,舞臺后面，ob-,在上，在后面，-scaen,舞臺，來自PIE*skei,分開，詞源同shed,segment,proscenium.原指古希臘時期在表演不堪入目的情節時，只在舞臺后面發出聲音，而不在舞臺上表演。后由該詞引申詞義淫穢的，下流的。

obscene (adj.)

1590s, "offensive to the senses, or to taste and refinement," from Middle French obscène (16c.), from Latin obscenus "offensive," especially to modesty, originally "boding ill, inauspicious," of unknown origin; perhaps from ob "onto" (see ob-) + caenum "filth." Meaning "offensive to modesty or decency" is attested from 1590s. Legally, in U.S., it hinged on "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest." [Justice William Brennan, "Roth v. United States," June 24, 1957]; refined in 1973 by "Miller v. California":

The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Related: Obscenely.

1. His salary was obscene for three 40-minute shows a week.

他一周只有3次節目，每次40分鐘，但他的薪水實在高得離譜。

來自柯林斯例句

2. It was obscene to spend millions producing unwanted food.

耗資數百萬去生產一些不需要的食品，真是令人發指。

來自柯林斯例句

3. Obscene and threatening phone calls are against the law.

猥褻和恐嚇電話都是違法的。

來自柯林斯例句

4. The law is the final arbiter of what is considered obscene.

何謂猥褻最終由法律裁決。

來自《權威詞典》

5. His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.

他的著作被定為淫穢作品,是對上帝的褻瀆.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》