whore
noun
a person who engages in sex acts for money; prostitute.
whore
1 American
[hawr]
/ hɔr /
noun
-
a person who engages in sex acts for money; prostitute.
-
Disparaging and Offensive. a person who is sexually promiscuous.
-
a person who sacrifices personal principles or uses someone or something in a base or unworthy manner, usually for money.
a greedy publicity whore.
verb (used without object)
whored,
whoring
-
to act as a whore.
-
to consort with whores.
-
to seek after something that is base or unworthy.
those who practice idolatry and whore after other gods.
verb (used with object)
whored,
whoring
-
to put to a base or unworthy use (sometimes followed byout ).
He’s whoring out his skills by writing for popular magazines.
-
Obsolete. to make a whore of; corrupt; debauch.
who're
2
American
[hoo-er]
/ ˈhu ər /
whore
British
/ hɔː /
noun
verb
-
to be or act as a prostitute
-
(of a man) to have promiscuous sexual relations, esp with prostitutes
-
(often foll by after) to seek that which is immoral, idolatrous, etc
Usage
See contraction.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of whore
First recorded before 1100; Middle English, Old English hōre; cognate with German Hure, Old Norse hōra; akin to Gothic hors “harlot,” Latin cārus “beloved; expensive”
Explanation
In the original sense, a whore is a prostitute: someone who has sex for money. The word has since broadened to mean anyone who is money-hungry. Whores traditionally whored their bodies out for money. But today a whore can be a person that compromises himself in any kind of way for monetary gain. It's also a nasty thing to call someone (especially a woman) who has a lot of sex and is often used as a vulgar insult similar to bitch. It's not really an appropriate word to call someone, including actual prostitutes.
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.
He appeared in historical dramas The Musketeers on the BBC and The Devil's Whore on Channel 4.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2024
Scott Raab, the author of the anti–LeBron James manifesto The Whore of Akron, was later critical of those reporters who chose not to speak up about West’s locker room blowup.
From Slate • Jun. 4, 2014
The tones taken by Scott Raab in “The Whore of Akron” and Harvey Araton in “When the Garden Was Eden” couldn’t be more different, however.
From New York Times • Dec. 25, 2011
If the Coral harbour an inner Pixies, that was when it emerged, as startlingly as if Kylie Minogue were to suddenly rasp out Hole's Teenage Whore.
From The Guardian • Jul. 15, 2010
And now again, gentle Reader, let it be judged, whether the Lord and the Whore above-mention’d might not, with equal Justice, have been apply’d to sober Sawney the Satyrist, as to Colley the Criminal?
From A Letter from Mr. Cibber to Mr. Pope by Cibber, Colley
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.
