lascivious
Americanadjective
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inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd.
a lascivious, girl-chasing old man.
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arousing sexual desire.
lascivious photographs.
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indicating sexual interest or expressive of lust or lewdness.
a lascivious gesture.
adjective
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lustful; lecherous
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exciting sexual desire
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of lascivious
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin lascīvi(a) “playfulness, wantonness” ( lascīv(us) “playful, wanton” + -ia noun suffix) + -ous; see -ia
Explanation
Use lascivious to describe a person's behavior that is driven by thoughts of sex. If someone gives you a lascivious smile, they've got only one thing in mind. Latin-based lascivious and the Old English word lust both share the same Indo-European root las- "to be eager, wanton." The much older word lust originally meant "desire, pleasure" and over time developed to mean sexual desire. Lascivious, on the other hand, entered the English language in the early 15th century complete with the meaning "lewd, driven by sexual desire."
Vocabulary lists containing lascivious
My Brother Sam is Dead
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The Bluest Eye
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Challenge, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But it strikes a false and pandering note, since Tartuffe, as in Molière, has been plainly exposed as an opportunistic, lascivious fraud—and the only one in the play.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
Sims and the drummer Mac McNeilly skillfully wedded the thudding force and lascivious groove of the ’70s arena-rock gods they grew up on with the grimy racket of the ’80s underground.
From New York Times • Jun. 5, 2024
The law forbids shipment of every "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance."
From Salon • Apr. 5, 2024
The Comstock Act, championed by anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock and passed in 1873, made it a federal crime to send or receive any material deemed "obscene, lewd or lascivious".
From BBC • Mar. 25, 2024
It reveals secrets, is quarrelsome, lascivious, impudent, dangerous and mad.
From Many Thoughts of Many Minds A Treasury of Quotations from the Literature of Every Land and Every Age by Klopsch, Louis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
