adjective
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relating to or involving incest
an incestuous union
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guilty of incest
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obsolete resulting from incest
an incestuous bastard
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resembling incest in excessive or claustrophobic intimacy
Other Word Forms
- incestuously adverb
- incestuousness noun
- nonincestuous adjective
- nonincestuously adverb
- nonincestuousness noun
- unincestuous adjective
- unincestuously adverb
Etymology
Origin of incestuous
1525–35; < Late Latin incestuōsus, equivalent to Latin incestu- stem of incestus incest + -ōsus -ous
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.
But those local prosecutors can have “politically incestuous” relationships with sheriffs, creating pressure to overlook allegations, said Chris Toth, the former executive director of the National Association of Attorneys General.
From New York Times
Film and TV felt too incestuous — his grandfather, Lew Wasserman, reigned as Hollywood’s power broker from the 1960s to the 1990s — and too financially challenged, he would say.
From New York Times
Some theorize this incestuous recursion could be the beginning of the end for generative AI.
From Salon
Jordan Fisher plays Anthony, the sailor who rescues Johanna from Judge Turpin’s incestuous clutches, and he and Bilbao infuse their romantic subplot with a joyful verve.
From Washington Post
Previous studies of ancient DNA obtained from Tut and several other members of the royal family revealed clues to his incestuous lineage.
From Scientific American
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.
