bawdy
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of bawdy
Explanation
Bawdy describes humor that is vulgar or off-color. Things that are bawdy are a little inappropriate, intended to be funny, and definitely not the kind of things you want to say in school. Bawdy jokes are inappropriate, but they're not totally explicit or graphic — a movie with a little bit of bawdy humor might be rated PG-13, rather than R. Still, you probably don't want to recite bawdy poems in front of your fussy Aunt Irma, your clergyperson, or your math teacher. The exact etymology of this word is uncertain, but it is formed from the Middle English noun bawd, meaning "a lewd or licentious person."
Vocabulary lists containing bawdy
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"Hatred," Vocabulary from the poem
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Copper Sun
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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.
Bawdy of temperament, yet blessed with a tavern croon that recalls several number one hits of the mid-1990s.
From The Guardian • Apr. 10, 2019
“He’s fearless. A showman. He likes a drink. A cigar. Bawdy stories. Hunting and fishing. He’s a man’s man.”
From Washington Post • Nov. 17, 2016
Bawdy and fast-talking, the two friends are the first to point out that their characters are basically them.
From Washington Times • Jul. 9, 2015
From Bawdy Street Dance to Courtly Refinement There are many ideas about how the chaconne — the intoxicating dance that bursts with improvisatory flair over a steady, repeating bass line — got its name.
From New York Times • Oct. 5, 2012
THese Bawdy baskets be also wemen, and go with baskets and Capcases on their armes, where in they haue laces, pynnes, nedles, white ynkell, and round sylke gyrdles of al coulours.
From The Rogues and Vagabonds of Shakespeare's Youth Awdeley's 'Fraternitye of vacabondes' and Harman's 'Caveat' by Awdeley, John
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.
