definitions
  • synonyms

bodice ripper

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noun Informal.

a modern Gothic novel or historical romance, usually in paperback format, featuring at least one passionate love scene, characteristically one in which the heroine vainly resists submitting to the villain or hero.

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Nearby words

bodhidharma, bodhisattva, bodhran, bodhrán, bodice, bodice ripper, bodied, bodiless, bodily, boding, bodingly
Also called bodice buster.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bodice-ripper

  • This bodice-ripper about Restoration England, banned in fourteen US states, was the bestselling novel in 1940s America.

    Emma Donoghue’s Book Bag: Five Whorestoricals|Emma Donoghue|October 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST

  • In a sitting, I raced through the book: a thinking man's bodice-ripper.

    The Daily Beast's Favorite Books of 2010|The Daily Beast|December 18, 2010|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for bodice-ripper

bodice ripper

noun

informal a romantic novel, usually on a historical theme, that involves some sex and violence
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012