bawdy

[baw-dee]

adjective

bawdier, bawdiest 

1. indecent; lewd; obscene.

   another of his bawdy stories.

   Synonyms: raunchy, licentious, coarse, ribald, risqué, earthy, prurient, salacious, lascivious

noun

1. coarse or indecent talk or writing; bawdry; bawdiness.

   a collection of Elizabethan bawdy.

bawdy

/ ˈbɔːdɪ /

adjective

1. (of language, plays, etc) containing references to sex, esp to be humorous

noun

1. obscenity or eroticism, esp in writing or drama

Other Word Forms

• bawdiness noun
• bawdily adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of bawdy¹

First recorded in 1505–15; bawd + -y ¹

Example Sentences

A close listen shows it’s Swift’s most bawdy album yet, and one of her most optimistic.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Over dinner with a Sunday Times magazine editor, Godrey Smith, she entertained him with bawdy tales of life as a hard-drinking, sexually liberated housewife.

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He said he had been a fan of the American Pie series of films – the bawdy coming-of-age movies in which Levy played a long-suffering father.

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The film is so committed to its PG-13 rating that it manages to pull off some truly filthy, bawdy slapstick without exposing a frame of skin.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A surprise cameo from Lizzo paid alms to their long friendship, and a bawdy slice of her verse from Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” proved she can own even a nemesis’ material with her charisma.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• lewd 
• obscene 
• off-color 
• ribald 
• rude