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
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; see -ia
Explanation
Use lascivious to describe a person's behavior that is driven by thoughts of sex. If someone gives you a lascivious smile, they've got only one thing in mind. Latin-based lascivious and the Old English word lust both share the same Indo-European root las- "to be eager, wanton." The much older word lust originally meant "desire, pleasure" and over time developed to mean sexual desire. Lascivious, on the other hand, entered the English language in the early 15th century complete with the meaning "lewd, driven by sexual desire."
Vocabulary lists containing lascivious
My Brother Sam is Dead
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The Bluest Eye
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Challenge, List 1
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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.
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.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
The law forbids shipment of every "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance."
From Salon • Apr. 5, 2024
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 • Mar. 25, 2024
As for another modern-day collection of their favorite old blues numbers, Richards uttered another lascivious laugh and said, “I’m going to sound like Trump now: ‘Trust me.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 1, 2017
Had there been no wars, no tyrants, and no lascivious men before Rousseau, one would have been ready to take Professor Babbitt’s indictment more seriously.
From The Art of Letters by Lynd, Robert
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.
