tabu

1. 1.

   a prejudice (especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands) that prohibits the use or mention of something because of its sacred nature

   Synonymstaboo

   Broaderbias

   Polynesia

2. 2.

   an inhibition or ban resulting from social custom or emotional aversion

   Synonymstaboo

   Broaderinhibition

1. 1.

   forbidden to profane use especially in South Pacific islands

   Synonymstaboo

   Similarsacred
2. 2.

   excluded from use or mention

   “forbidden fruit”

   “in our house dancing and playing cards were out”

   “a taboo subject”

   Synonymsforbiddenoutprohibitedproscribedtabooverboten

   Similarimpermissible

Other forms of tabu

plural

tabus·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about tabu

What does tabu mean?

tabu means "a prejudice (especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands) that prohibits the use or mention of something because of its sacred nature". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in tabu?

tabu has 2 syllables: ta-bu. The stress falls on "ta".

What is another word for tabu?

Close synonyms include taboo, taboo, taboo, forbidden, out. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is tabu a common word?

tabu is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.