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How Much Profanity is in Modern Audiobooks?


books are 28× more likely to include profanity now a days

Modern English-language audiobooks can be a wild ride when it comes to foul language. Over the past few decades, authors have become far more liberal with profanity in their writing, and that trend is clearly reflected in audiobook content. In this report, we’ll delve into profanity usage by decade and genre, highlight some of the most profanity-laced audiobooks on record, and serve up eye-popping comparisons (yes, some novels drop more F-bombs than Pulp Fiction!). We'll also include charts to visualize just how much standards have shifted.


Profanity in Audiobooks: 1980s vs. 2020s

It’s no secret that profanity in literature (and thus audiobooks) has surged in recent decades. Books from the 1950s through 1980s tended to be relatively clean, whereas 21st-century titles often feature heavy swearing. A 2017 textual analysis of over a million books found a “dramatic” increase in swear words in American literature since the mid-20th century. For example, the word “fuck” was 168 times more frequent in books of the mid-2000s compared to the early 1950s. Overall, books published in the late 2000s were 28 times more likely to include profanity than those in the 1950s. This reflects a steady rise each decade.


By the 1980s, profanity was appearing more often in print, but still nowhere near today’s levels. Many bestsellers from that era contained zero F-words or just a handful. (As one commentator noted, classic reads like Lord of the Rings or Ray Bradbury’s novels didn’t include a single curse word.) In contrast, by the 2020s it’s common for a novel – especially in adult genres – to feature dozens or even hundreds of swear words. Authors have shed past taboos in favor of “authentic” dialogue, and cultural attitudes toward profanity have relaxed. Sociologists tie this shift to increased individualism and freedom of expression: people are simply less restrained about cussing than decades ago.


Figure: Average profanity instances (any swear words) per audiobook in the 1980s vs the 2020s. Modern audiobooks contain far more swearing on average than those published decades ago, reflecting a broad cultural shift.


The above chart illustrates the stark difference. In the 1980s, an average book might only contain a few profanities (if any). By the 2020s, an average book often contains several dozen profanities. In other words, the “language” in audiobooks has gone from mostly PG to a strong PG-13 or R rating on average. It’s not just one type of swear increasing, either – all of George Carlin’s infamous “seven dirty words” are appearing more frequently. One study found that even extremely strong words (like the big “mother***er”) are hundreds of times more common in recent books than in the 1950s.


To put this in perspective, consider a famously profanity-laden movie: Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) uses the F-word 265 times in its 154-minute runtime. In the ’80s, encountering anything close to that level of profanity in a book or audiobook was extraordinarily rare. Fast forward to today – it’s not unheard of for a single novel to rival or even exceed that F-bomb count!


Profanity Across Genres: Romance vs. Fantasy vs. YA

Profanity levels in audiobooks also vary widely by genre. What’s acceptable in a grimdark fantasy epic might be toned down in a feel-good romance or a Young Adult (YA) novel. Let’s compare how different genres stack up on average:


Figure: Average profanity instances per book (modern audiobooks), by genre. Adult fantasy novels tend to contain the most swearing, while YA (teen) books usually have the least. Romance falls in between, though individual books can vary greatly.


Fantasy: Modern adult fantasy is known for its gritty, often uncensored realism – and that includes language. Many recent fantasy audiobooks are replete with cursing, especially in the “grimdark” subgenre. For instance, Joe Abercrombie’s acclaimed First Law fantasy trilogy drops a whopping 303 f-bombs across three books (averaging ~100 per book)f. Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) – a single-volume fantasy adventure – uses the f-word 189 times. These counts are per book, not series totals! It’s not unusual for an adult fantasy audiobook today to feature dozens of F-words and plenty of other swears; colorful curses have become part of the genre’s flavor. (That said, fantasy isn’t uniformly vulgar – some authors still refrain from real-world profanity, or invent fictional curse words instead. For example, one series by author Jeff Salyards uses the made-up expletive “plaguing” in place of the f-word – 385 times in one book – to similar effect!)


Romance: Romance novels generally focus on relationships and steamy encounters more than on dropping F-bombs – but they’re not entirely innocent. Contemporary romance audiobooks often include some swearing, typically in dialogue or internal monologue to convey anger, passion, or humor. In many mainstream romance novels, you might encounter a handful of F-words, plus assorted milder curses (“damn,” “hell,” “sh*t”). This usually places them in a moderate range for profanity. For instance, a popular romantic comedy One Night on the Island contains ~30 uses of strong language (f-word), alongside dozens of milder expletives. Many romance books stay around that level or lower – enough to feel realistic to most adult readers, but not so much as to overwhelm the love story. That said, a few romances go much further: Lucy Score’s 2022 romance Things We Never Got Over is an outlier with 320 uses of strong profanity (yes, 320 f-words!), plus ~300 mid-level curses and other rude words in one novel. (It turns out even small-town love stories can get pretty sweary when the hero is a “bad-boy” type.) Generally, though, romance as a genre doesn’t top the profanity charts – it tends to balance emotional drama with only moderate cussing.


Young Adult (YA): YA books (aimed at teens) usually feature the least profanity – partly due to publisher and parental expectations. Many YA audiobooks contain no F-words at all, sticking to the milder end of the swear spectrum if any. However, this too has shifted somewhat in recent years. Researchers found that about 88% of bestselling teen novels contain some profanity (even if mild), and 20% of them include at least one of the harsher “seven dirty words”. On average, a YA bestseller contains ~38 total swear words (of all levels) in its text. For example, the hit YA novel Eleanor & Park (2013) includes 62 uses of “fuck” along with other curses– enough that it’s frequently been challenged for their “vile profanity” in school libraries. Another YA title, the edgy memoir Tweak (marketed as “young adult” in 2008), set a record with 139 f-words and over 500 total profanities, essentially reading like an R-rated script. Still, those are exceptional cases. Most YA audiobooks limit strong language; authors might substitute slang or have characters say “freaking” instead of the F-word to keep it teen-friendly. It’s telling that mega-popular YA series like The Hunger Games and Harry Potter contain virtually no profanity at all– showing you can be gritty and dramatic without cussing. Overall, YA books average fewer swear words than adult books, and when strong language does appear, it’s often purposefully included to reflect realistic teen speech or serious situations, not just tossed around casually.


In short, adult fantasy tends to have the highest profanity density, YA the lowest, and adult romance somewhere in the middle (with plenty of variation within each genre). These are general trends – you will find “clean” fantasy novels and surprisingly sweary YA or romance – but they hold true in broad strokes. Content rating services echo this: for example, Rated Reads (which assigns movie-style ratings to books) will mark most YA novels as “Mild” or “Moderate” for language (0–5 f-words), whereas many adult fantasy or edgy romance novels earn a “High”/R rating for exceeding 5 strong expletives. If you’ve ever been caught off guard by unexpected language in an audiobook, you’re not alone. That’s exactly why we built Siftbooks — the first-ever content filtering tool for audiobooks. Whether you're a parent, a sensitive listener, or just want more control over what you hear, Siftbooks lets you skip profanity and other unwanted content automatically, so you can enjoy great stories without the cringe. Try it today.


Audiobooks That Break the Swear-O-Meter (100+ F-Bombs)

What are some notable audiobooks with over 100 F-words? We’ve hinted at a few above, but let’s list some standout examples of profanity in prose. These titles are swearing heavyweights – the kind of books that make even Quentin Tarantino scripts seem tame:

  • “Revenge of the Elf” by Lucas Thorn (Fantasy) – An obscure but notorious example in fantasy circles, this audiobook unleashes an estimated 380+ F-bombs. One analysis found it packed more than twice as many f-words as Scott Lynch’s 189-count record in Locke Lamora, making it a clear winner (or loser?) in the profanity department. In sheer volume of swearing, Revenge of the Elf outpaces even movies like Pulp Fiction (265 F-words) by a considerable margin!

  • “Trainspotting” by Irvine Welsh (Contemporary) – The audiobook of this cult 1993 novel (set among Scottish heroin addicts) is absolutely fluent in profanity. It drops the F-word 379 times – plus an incredible 700+ uses of an even stronger British swear (“c**t”). This relentless barrage of expletives actually exceeds the profanity counts of virtually any mainstream film. (Fun fact: In Scottish vernacular, those words are so common that Welsh’s intent was authentic voice, but it gives Trainspotting the likely title of “most F-words in a literary novel.”)

  • “Things We Never Got Over” by Lucy Score (Romance) – Proof that not only action or noir have foul mouths – this recent romance best-seller contains roughly 320 F-words in audio, as confirmed by content reviewers Listeners of the audiobook will hear the characters curse like sailors in between flirting and fighting. That’s on top of hundreds more mild and moderate profanities throughout the dialogue. It’s an outlier for the romance genre and has as many F-bombs as three Tarantino movies combined. If you thought only gritty crime novels were full of swears, this small-town love story says “Hold my beer”!

  • “The Lies of Locke Lamora” by Scott Lynch (Fantasy) – Mentioned earlier, it clocks in at 189 F-words. This fan-favorite fantasy audiobook is often cited for its creative cussing and vulgar characters. It’s not the absolute highest, but it’s noteworthy for having nearly 200 F-bombs in one tightly written story – a testament to how far fantasy has come from the days of noble heroes with clean speech.

  • “Tweak” by Nic Sheff (YA Memoir) – An audiobook marketed to older teens, it holds the record in a research sample of YA lit with 139 F-words. This is basically the diary of a young drug addict, so the language is extremely raw. It’s a reminder that some YA-designated content can be as profanity-laden as any adult book when the subject matter is intense (though such cases are relatively rare).

  • “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison (Literary) – A contemporary coming-of-age novel (with an audiobook) that became controversial in school libraries, partly due to language. One review noted it had 100+ F-words (and plenty of other four-letter words) in its text, which, along with sexual content, sparked challenges. It’s another example of a modern literary novel freely employing profanity for realism. Critics of the book’s presence in libraries literally counted the curses as evidence against it, while supporters argued that the rough language is true to the narrator’s life.


(There are many more examples, of course – from Chuck Palahniuk’s transgressive fiction to crime thrillers and horror novels. Chuck Palahniuk’s short-story collection Make Something Up: Stories You Can’t Unread was one of the top 10 most challenged books of 2015 largely for “profanity”, indicating its audiobook likely isn’t shy about dropping some f-bombs. Even classics like Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye broke ground with swear words in their day. But the list above gives a sense of the upper echelon of swearing in audiobooks.

Eye-Catching Stats and Comparisons

To recap some striking findings:

  • Profanity has exploded over time: Recent audiobooks (2020s) have 5–10 times as many swear words on average as those from the 1980s. In the broader view since the 1950s, books are 28× more likely to include profanity now. The F-word itself is over 100× more frequent in print now than it was mid-century – a truly dramatic shift. What once would have been shocking language is now almost routine in adult fiction.

  • Genre matters: If you pick up a gritty fantasy audiobook from the last few years, expect a torrent of swear words – possibly more than you’d hear in an R-rated war movie. A YA audiobook, on the other hand, might only have a few mild curses (if any), akin to a PG-13 film or even PG in some cases. Romance audiobooks usually sit somewhere between: they might throw in some spicy language during heated arguments or passion, but many are comparably tame next to, say, a violent fantasy or crime thriller.

  • Some books out-swear Hollywood’s sweariest films: Perhaps the most jaw-dropping comparison – certain audiobooks contain more profanity than the movie Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction famously has ~265 f-words; but audiobooks like Trainspotting (379), Revenge of the Elf (~380), and Things We Never Got Over (320) leave that number in the dust. Even a 2024 release in fantasy or romance could easily hit “Tarantino levels” of swearing. In fact, one 2022 fantasy novel used an in-universe swear (“plaguing”) so much – 385 times – that if you count it, the book would have 411 F-equivalents, utterly dwarfing any film script! For better or worse, modern authors have proven they can swear with the best of screenwriters.

  • Parents and content reviewers are taking note: The boom in audiobook profanity hasn’t gone unnoticed. Content filtering services and rating sites have emerged to help listeners navigate this. For example, Common Sense Media and Rated Reads provide guidance on language for many books, noting whether a book has “frequent strong language” or is safe for younger ears. (One look at a Rated Reads summary can be illuminating – e.g. Things We Never Got Over got a “High” rating for its hundreds of curses, whereas a gentle YA romance might be rated “Mild” for just a couple “damn”s.) Users on Goodreads and Audible also often flag profanity in reviews or tags. It’s now common to see questions like “How much swearing is in this audiobook?” on discussion forums, especially for YA books or cross-genre titles. Publishers sometimes include “Explicit language” warnings in audiobook descriptions if the content is particularly harsh. In short, as profanity has become more prevalent, so have efforts to label and manage it for audiences who care.


Conclusion

Modern audiobooks are far saltier than their decades-old predecessors. The 1980s audiobook landscape — largely scrubbed of F-words — has given way to an era where many books revel in realism, including realistic profanity. Whether this is a positive trend or not is subjective: some listeners appreciate the authenticity and emotional punch that raw language can provide, while others feel it’s gratuitous or prefer cleaner dialogue. But the data doesn’t lie: by and large, authors today aren’t holding back on swears.


From the battlefields of fantasy worlds, to the angst of teen dramas, to the banter of contemporary romance, profanity is an unmistakable part of the storytelling toolkit in 2020s audiobooks. We’ve got F-bombs being dropped in every genre – sometimes by the hundreds. This doesn’t mean every modern audiobook is full of swearing (plenty are not), but the average levels are way up compared to a generation ago.


For listeners, this means you might want to check those content ratings if you’re sensitive to language – today’s “unabridged” audiobook may include all the four-letter words exactly as the author wrote them. And for writers and publishers, it highlights how norms have changed: a book that might have been censored or controversial for profanity in the past can now become a bestseller (or award-winner) despite – or even partly because of – its frank language.


To answer the titular question “How Much Profanity is in Modern Audiobooks?”: a lot more than there used to be. In many cases, more than in R-rated films. We’re living in an age where a fantasy epic can have a character curse like a sailor every other sentence, and where even a heartwarming romance might sneak in dozens of F-words. Love it or hate it, profanity in audiobooks is here to stay – loud, proud, and frequently unfiltered.


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