Profanity involves the use of notionally offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion, as a grammatical intensifier or emphasis, or to express informality or conversational intimacy. In many formal or polite social situations, it is considered impolite, and in some religious groups it is considered a sin. Profanity includes slurs, but there are many insults that do not use swear words.

ಹೊಲಸು ಮಾತು ಎಂದರೆ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕವಾಗಿ ಮನನೋಯಿಸುವ ಮಾತು/ನುಡಿ. ಇದನ್ನು ಕೊಳಕು ಮಾತು, ಬೈಗುಳದ ಮಾತು, ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಮಾತು, ಒರಟು ಮಾತು, ಅಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಭಾಷೆ, ಅಶ್ಲೀಲ ಭಾಷೆ, ಅಪಶಬ್ದ, ಅಥವಾ ಪಾಷಂಡ ಮಾತು ಎಂದೂ ಕರೆಯಬಹುದು.