harlot
Americannoun
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of harlot
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English: “young idler, rogue,” from Old French herlot, of obscure origin
Explanation
Harlot is an old-fashioned word for a prostitute — a woman who has sex for money. These days, calling a woman a harlot is usually done humorously. This word is too old-sounding and unusual to be very insulting. Still, you shouldn't call anyone a harlot, because it's a term — just like "whore," "strumpet," and "lady of the night" — for a woman who has sex for money. That's never been a compliment, even though today the world's oldest profession has a much nicer term: sex worker.
Vocabulary lists containing harlot
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:
Throughout the years — an astonishing 22 of them — Ms. Abrera has checked off other characters in “Romeo and Juliet”: She’s played a harlot, Rosaline and Lady Capulet.
From New York Times ● Jun. 8, 2018
Words such as scold, shrew, termagent, witch, harlot, bawd, and tramp were all at one point in their histories terms for men; furthermore, the terms were usually neutral and sometimes even adulatory.
From Salon ● May 11, 2013
In the wake of feminism, and postmodern drama, it's not uncommon now to portray Carmen as more heroine than harlot.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 5, 2011
So the translators revived the old rule of "thou" for singular – whether to God or a harlot – and "you" for plural.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 1, 2011
The sermon had meandered from the pious Susanna to Rahab, the harlot of Jericho.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
She could sum everything up, but instead, by all indications, Maxwell plans to tell the same old story of misunderstood glitterati beset by gold-digging harlots and press-hungry prosecutors.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 16, 2021
They also portray women who dump bad husbands positively, not as wicked harlots.
From Economist ● Sep. 14, 2016
There is no mention of Solomon deciding to which of the two harlots belongs the baby they both claimed.
From Time Magazine Archive
Jesus sat at meat with publicans and sinners: he consorted with harlots.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not rulers and Pharisees, but common people, fishermen, humble women, publicans, sinners, and harlots were numerous among the first followers of Jesus; and these were the ones who heard him gladly.
From Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism by Putnam, Allen
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.
