From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtaboota‧boo1 /təˈbuː, tæ-/ adjective 1 FORBIDa taboo subject, word, activity etc is one that people avoid because it is extremely offensive or embarrassing Rape is a taboo subject.2 not accepted as socially correct It’s taboo to date a man a lot younger than you.3 SAtoo holy or evil to be touched or used
Examples from the Corpus
taboo• Society leads you to believe that certain things are taboo.• But confusion and anger and fear are taboo.• Like Stanley Feingold before him, he had violated the taboo against discussing the limits of the remedial process.• A still photographer and a video cameraman followed him in there, which is taboo and off-limits and strictly verboten.• In the '50s it was taboo for co-workers to date each other.• Sex before marriage is no longer taboo in western countries.• It is a taboo subject, and the marriage ceremonies are performed in secret.• Death is still a taboo subject for many people.• On all counts - a taboo subject.• Rape is an equally taboo subject.taboo subject• As unemployment rose in 1992, redundancy ceased to be a taboo subject.• By this time - the early seventies - homosexuality was no longer a taboo subject.• However, almost nothing else was considered a taboo subject.• On all counts - a taboo subject.• Rape is an equally taboo subject.• It is a taboo subject, and the marriage ceremonies are performed in secret.• This should certainly not be a taboo subject, but nor should it be used to flagellate the mass of teachers.• By talking about this taboo subject in prayers, sermons and Sunday-school lessons.tabootaboo2 noun (plural taboos) [countable] FORBIDa custom that says you must avoid a particular activity or subject, either because it is considered offensive or because your religion does not allow ittaboo about/on/against There are taboos against appearing naked in public places.COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa social tabooThere is a social taboo against expressing negative views of other races.a sexual tabooThe old sexual taboos had disappeared.verbsbreak/violate a tabooHe is willing to break the taboo about discussing the effects of large-scale immigration.observe a taboo (=not do something that is considered offensive or unacceptable)The Kalenjin people of Kenya still observe a taboo against eating fish.phrasesthe taboo surrounding something (=relating to something)John's work did much to remove the taboo surrounding the disease. Examples from the Corpus
taboo• Until a few years ago, there was a taboo around the subject of divorce.• Sickness may be considered to be a punishment inflicted for neglect of certain taboos.• Kádár was fairly liberal in that respect, so long as a few taboos were respected, especially the role of the Soviet Union.• At other times, converse sets of taboos could be quite useful.• It is given to some presidents to break political taboos for all time.• The rules are formally protected by supposedly powerful religious taboos, breach of which will result in supernatural punishment for all concerned.• Through his work, Freud realised that some taboos of the time were much more commonly breached than was acknowledged by society.• Farce likes to tinker with such taboos.• But, of course, if you wanted to write seriously, then the taboos were difficult to avoid.taboo about/on/against• There has long been a taboo on the eating of fresh oysters during the months May through August.• Their main problem was breaking cultural taboos about women attending markets unaccompanied and trading alone.• There seems to be nothing taboo about the subject: everyone agrees excision no longer happens.• There is a strong taboo against marrying outside the group.• What is the taboo on life and liveliness inside the family?• Like Stanley Feingold before him, he had violated the taboo against discussing the limits of the remedial process.• These taboos against women as polluting to male sacred space are very ancient.Origin taboo1 (1700-1800) Tongan tabu 