debauchery
Americannoun
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excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; intemperance.
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Archaic. seduction from duty, allegiance, or virtue.
Usage
What does debauchery mean? Debauchery is behavior considered excessively decadent, indulgent, and depraved. It’s especially used to collectively refer to drug use, excessive drinking, promiscuous sex, and the kind of uninhibited activity that happens at wild parties. Debauchery has traditionally been used in a negative way by those who condemn it as immoral or sinful. But it is also used in a somewhat ironic way by those who engage in such activity to celebrate it or make it seem fun. Example: Hair metal bands in the ’80s were notorious for their backstage debauchery.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of debauchery
Explanation
Debauchery is a noun meaning crazy partying and wild nights, usually accompanied by a lot of alcohol. So you probably don't want to engage in any kind of debauchery the night before an exam. Debauchery is all about indulging in some of life's pleasures — overindulging, in fact. It stems from the Middle French word debaucher, which means to “entice from work or duty.” So imagine workers being tempted from another day at the office by the promise of a wild bender in Vegas. Or college kids putting down the books and heeding the siren call of the frat party downstairs.
Vocabulary lists containing debauchery
Mardi Gras: Fun
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The Stranger
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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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.
See Examples For:
“Something a little more wholesome than the debauchery of downtown,” says John Ingram, chairman of the Ingram Industries conglomerate and owner of the pro-soccer team Nashville SC.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Even with the debauchery and depravity so vividly portrayed by Wambaugh, unsung acts of goodwill and tenderness emerge through the blue fog.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025
Trump was a frequent visitor to New York’s Studio 54 in the late 70s and early 80s and was well known for his debauchery.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2025
Some students were saved from debauchery when school officials colored in a pair of pants on the goblin.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
Dubbed the nation’s most eligible bachelor, Vanderbilt eschewed the debauchery that would have tempted other men fresh out of their teens and into a bottomless bank account.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
The results, which ranged from strum-strumming stanzas to languorous rhythms, hinted at unimaginable pagan debaucheries, hymned the fashionable cause of freedom against tyranny.
From Time Magazine Archive
The U.S. is still a long way from the rugged debaucheries of Restoration England or the perfumed corruption of the Gallant Century in France.
From Time Magazine Archive
As the guardian of Soviet morality, junior grade, the Communist Party youth newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda frequently berates students for hooliganism, debaucheries, or ideological lapses unworthy of Marxists.
From Time Magazine Archive
As the deadly bewilderments and debaucheries of recent history have shown, this problem is enough to tax to the limit the minds and energies that would propose to solve it.
From Time Magazine Archive
Toward the close of this vigil, which throughout was marked by all sorts of debaucheries and excesses, all the participants seemed suddenly seized by ten thousand devils.
From The Myths of the New World A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America by Brinton, Daniel Garrison
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.
