indecent
Americanadjective
-
offending against generally accepted standards of propriety or good taste; improper; vulgar.
indecent jokes; indecent language; indecent behavior.
- Synonyms:
- licentious, lewd, filthy, obscene, gross, rude, outrageous, coarse, indelicate, indecorous, immodest, distasteful
-
not decent; unbecoming or unseemly.
indecent haste.
- Synonyms:
- inappropriate
- Antonyms:
- becoming, appropriate
adjective
-
offensive to standards of decency, esp in sexual matters
-
unseemly or improper (esp in the phrase indecent haste )
Related Words
See improper.
Other Word Forms
- indecently adverb
Etymology
Origin of indecent
First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin indecent- (stem of indecēns ) “unseemly.” See in- 3, decent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead of finding eating and singing with dead spirits indecent, many people attending the circles found Maggie and Kate’s cheerfulness around death a sign of their closeness to the spirits.
From Literature
The rule states that there should be no behaviour that is "improper, offensive, violent, threatening, abusive, indecent, insulting or provocative".
From BBC
Before that, police and prosecutors relied on laws dating back before the development of social media, such as sending indecent or offensive messages.
From BBC
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission also voiced "serious concern" at the weekend over public complaints about the "indecent, grossly offensive" content across X.
From Barron's
Back home, after the train ride, I washed and dried the mushrooms and sent them sizzling into a pan with shallots, garlic, salt, pepper and an indecent amount of smoked paprika.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
