lechery
Americannoun
-
unrestrained or excessive indulgence of sexual desire.
- Synonyms:
- promiscuity, lust, carnality
-
a lecherous act.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lechery
1200–50; Middle English lecherie < Old French. See lecher, -y 3
Explanation
Lechery is a noun applied to a person's feelings that are lustful or sexual in an extreme or unnatural way. A person's lechery may lead to wrong and unlawful physical acts or attacks on others, or to the making and viewing of inappropriate pictures and movies. Someone described as a "pervert" might also be called a lecher, whose offensive behavior and actions are lechery. Attraction between a husband and wife would not be lechery, because it's between two people who have a desire together. Lechery is a one-sided lust that crosses the line to being inappropriate and making others feel very uncomfortable or even afraid. Bad guys or "Casanovas" in literature demonstrate lechery when they try to win over innocent young women with lies.
Vocabulary lists containing lechery
The Crucible
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Catherine, Called Birdy
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Cat's Cradle
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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.
