Swearing and Taboo

Swearing

Swearing noun - Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger.

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Taboo and swearing are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Taboo" instead a noun "Swearing".

Nearby Words: swear, swearer

Taboo noun - An inhibition or ban resulting from social custom or emotional aversion.

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Swearing and taboo are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Swearing" instead a noun "Taboo".

Nearby Words: tabooed, tabooing

real	real swearing	real taboo
severe	severe swearing	severe taboo
big	big swearing	big taboo
extreme	extreme swearing	extreme taboo
Other adjectives: sexual, major, religious, traditional, explicit, modern.

Though Pluto/Hades wasn't an evil deity per se, but invoking his name was an extreme taboo, only done when swearing an unbreakable oath.

Source: Everybody Hates Hades
In the season 1 finale of Stargate SG-1, Jack O'Neill refers to something just explained to him as "Bullshit." This was when the show was on Showtime, where swearing isn't as taboo, but even then there was very little profanity on the show.

Source: Precision F Strike / Live-Action TV
Whether or not you actually have a taboo against swearing by "God," creative curses are good for characterization: in William Shakespeare's Othello, Manipulative Bastard Iago swears "by Janus" — the two-faced god.

Source: Oh My Gods!

Cite this Source

Taboo and Swearing. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 03, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/swearing/taboo

Swearing & Taboo. N.p., 2016. Web. 03 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/swearing/taboo>.

Taboo or Swearing. 2016. Accessed August 03, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/swearing/taboo.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "swearing" and "taboo" have occurred on timeline