taboo
Culturally off-limits thing
Taboo describes something forbidden by social custom or religious law—not illegal, but culturally prohibited.
Certain topics are taboo in polite conversation: death, money, sex.
Taboo can also be a noun: There's a strong taboo against speaking ill of the dead.
The word comes from Tongan, entering English through Captain Cook's Pacific voyages.
What counts as taboo varies enormously across cultures and eras.
Officially disallowed
- prohibitedOfficially not permitted
- illicitProhibited by law
- outlawedForbidden by law
- illegalForbidden by statute
verboten · interdicted · proscribed · contraband · unsanctioned · unauthorized · restricted · censored
Too shameful to discuss
- unspeakableBeyond verbal expression
- undiscussedNot talked about
- silenceTotal lack of sound
- hush-hushHighly confidential matter
unacknowledged · stigmatized · shameful · embarrassing · awkward · delicate · sensitive · touchy
Ceremonial set of actions
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- totemSpiritual clan symbol
- deityWorshipped supernatural being
- shrineSacred devotional place
altar · sanctity · consecrated · hallowed · profane · desecration · blasphemy · unclean
Insulting group label
- vulgarCrude or indecent
- obsceneGrossly offensive to decency
- profaneIrreverent toward the sacred
- derogatoryExpressing criticism or disrespect
indecent · inappropriate · crude · crass · coarse · indelicate · unseemly · improper
banned
Officially disallowed
- prohibitedOfficially not permitted
- illicitProhibited by law
- outlawedForbidden by law
illegal · verboten · interdicted · proscribed · contraband · unsanctioned · unauthorized · restricted · censored · off-limits
unmentionable
Too shameful to discuss
- unspeakableBeyond verbal expression
- undiscussedNot talked about
- silenceTotal lack of sound
hush-hush · unacknowledged · stigmatized · shameful · embarrassing · awkward · delicate · sensitive · touchy · uncomfortable
ritual
Ceremonial set of actions
shrine · altar · sanctity · consecrated · hallowed · profane · desecration · blasphemy · unclean · impure
slur
Insulting group label
derogatory · indecent · inappropriate · crude · crass · coarse · indelicate · unseemly · improper · shocking
incest
Relations between kin
- cannibalismIntraspecies flesh consumption
- casteInherited social division
- endogamyMarriage within one's group
exogamy · menstruation · death · burial · mourning · purity · kinship · marriage · dietary · halal
curse
Invoked harm through words
witchcraft · voodoo · spell · incantation · sorcery · amulet · talisman · fetish · charm · evil-eye
- normsnorm, norms, standard, social norms, rule
- prohibitionsban, forbid, prohibition, forbidden, prohibit
- No-Gobanned, forbidden, off-limits, illegal, outlawed
- African traditionsinitiation ceremonies, naming ceremony, ancestral worship, rites of passage, tribal chiefs
- deviancedeviance, perversion, perversity, aberration, abnormality
- Folkwayscustom, folk belief, folk remedy, folk medicine, folk song
tabooacceptable
Meeting minimum standards
permitted · permissible · allowed · sanctioned · allowable
taboomandatory
Required by rule
required · obligatory · compulsory · prescribed · sacred duty
taboomentionable
Fit to be said
speakable · discussable · fair game · on the table · open
- cultural tabooForbidden practice within society
- taboo subjectTopic considered inappropriate to discuss
- taboo wordsCulturally prohibited expressions
- taboo languageCulturally prohibited expressions
- social tabooForbidden act by custom
- taboo thoughtsSocially unacceptable mental content