lascivious
Americanadjective
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inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd.
a lascivious, girl-chasing old man.
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arousing sexual desire.
lascivious photographs.
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indicating sexual interest or expressive of lust or lewdness.
a lascivious gesture.
adjective
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lustful; lecherous
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exciting sexual desire
Other Word Forms
- lasciviously adverb
- lasciviousness noun
- overlascivious adjective
- overlasciviously adverb
Etymology
Origin of lascivious
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin lascīvi(a) “playfulness, wantonness” ( lascīv(us) “playful, wanton” + -ia noun suffix) + -ous; -ia
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 it strikes a false and pandering note, since Tartuffe, as in Molière, has been plainly exposed as an opportunistic, lascivious fraud—and the only one in the play.
Forty years after his death, Truman Capote continues to draw audiences in for another lascivious story and another dramatic portrayal in ‘Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.’
From Los Angeles Times
The law forbids shipment of every "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance."
From Salon
The Comstock Act, championed by anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock and passed in 1873, made it a federal crime to send or receive any material deemed "obscene, lewd or lascivious".
From BBC
“I Feel You” was grinding and lascivious, “John the Revelator” funky and clanging; “A Pain That I’m Used To” rode a morbid disco groove that wouldn’t quit.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
