taboo
n. countablen. a strong social or religious rule that forbids people from doing, saying, or touching something. Breaking a taboo often makes others feel shocked or uncomfortable.
n. a social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing. Often carries a strong sense of moral or cultural prohibition.
In many cultures, there is a taboo against eating certain animals.
The documentary explores how modern society is slowly breaking the long-standing taboo surrounding mental health discussions.
While some cultural taboos are rooted in ancient hygiene practices, others serve as complex social markers that reinforce group identity by strictly defining what is considered profane or forbidden.
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.
Often paired with the preposition 'against' or 'on'.