How do you use the word "incest" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "incest" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "incest": Imagine, for the sake of argument, a tribal group in which mother-son incest was countenanced. Incest is a taboo found in almost all cultures.

Incest Meaning

/ˈɪn.sɛst/

Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounSexual relations between close relatives, especially immediate family members and sometimes first cousins, usually considered taboo.

nounRomantic relationships between close relatives, also widely taboo.

Sentence Examples

Imagine, for the sake of argument, a tribal group in which mother-son incest was countenanced.

Incest is a taboo found in almost all cultures.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The criminal code strictly forbids any ____ between immediate biological family members.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

Societies across the world have established strict laws and taboos against the practice of ____.

Word Origin & History

Learned borrowing from Latin incestus. Displaced Old English mǣġhǣmed (literally “relative-sex”). Doublet of inchaste.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"For a structuralist like Edmund Leach, the structure is the meaning. Genesis, for example, is about incest taboos; all the rest is noise and mystification." — 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 12:

"He was only Craster's whelp, an abomination born of incest, not the son of the King-beyond-the-Wall." — 2005, George R. R. Martin, A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire, page 225:

"I do not want anyone to feel that my lesbianism is a result of being incested." — 1994, Kathryn Carter, Interpretive Approaches to Interpersonal Communication:

"Her erotic transference ultimately devolved into a revelation that she had been consistently incested by her brother" — 2009, Antonino Ferro, The Analytic Field: A Clinical Concept, page 206:

"[…] the most powerful of that bunch of immortal giants called Titans was Cronus, who “incested” with sister Rhea, who then birthed the Olympians (Zeus and his bunch) […]" — 2011, Marvin Mengeling, Crows, Pete Rose, UFOs: And Other Pretty Pieces, page 2:

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