profanity

• prophanity (hypercorrect, obsolete)

profane +‎ -ity

profanity (countable and uncountable, plural profanities)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being profane; quality of irreverence, of treating sacred things with contempt.
   • 1910, John William Cousin, "Bunyan, John" in A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.

     The overwhelming power of his imagination led him to contemplate acts of impiety and profanity, and to a vivid realisation of the dangers these involved.

2. (countable) Obscene, lewd or abusive language.
   • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:

     Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.

   He ran up and down the street screaming profanities like a madman.