Taboo
/təˈbuː/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
nounSomething which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.
Sentence Examples
The excessive use of salt should be taboo.
The topic is taboo here.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the tribe, it was a ____ to touch the sacred tree.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In many different societies, talking about money used to be considered a ____ topic that was best avoided today.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Tongan tapu (“prohibited, sacred”), from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu. Doublet of kapu. First attested in c. 1777. The p in the Tongan source was misheard as b.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It is true indeed that a taboo - in order to be a proper taboo - must not rest in the general mind on argument or reason."
— 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 194:
"So among the Alfoors of the island of Buru it is taboo to mention the names of parents and parents-in-law, or even to speak of common objects by words which resemble these names in sound."
— 1922, James Frazer, The Golden Bough:
"The sharp differentiation of the sexes in our culture was shaped most probably by monogamy and monosexuality and their tabus."
— 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 213:
"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:
"American society has a double standard when it comes to sexuality. We have a puritanical taboo against talking about sexuality directly, yet we are fine with the sexual images that pervade television and glossy magazines."
— 2014 May 21, Rey Junco, “What’s the big deal about sexting?”, in CNN:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the tribe, it was a ____ to touch the sacred tree.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In many different societies, talking about money used to be considered a ____ topic that was best avoided today.