licentious

[ lahy-sen-shuhs ]

/ laɪˈsɛn ʃəs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR licentious ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

sexually unrestrained; lascivious; libertine; lewd.

unrestrained by law or general morality; lawless; immoral.

going beyond customary or proper bounds or limits; disregarding rules.

Nearby words

Origin of licentious

First recorded in 1525–35, licentious is from the Latin word licentiōsus unrestrained. See license, -ous

SYNONYMS FOR licentious

2. abandoned, profligate.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR licentious ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR licentious

2. lawful.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR licentious ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

li·cen·tious·ly, adverbli·cen·tious·ness, nounnon·li·cen·tious, adjectivenon·li·cen·tious·ly, adverb

non·li·cen·tious·ness, nouno·ver·li·cen·tious, adjectiveo·ver·li·cen·tious·ly, adverbo·ver·li·cen·tious·ness, nounun·li·cen·tious, adjectiveun·li·cen·tious·ly, adverbun·li·cen·tious·ness, noun

Can be confusedlascivious licentious

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for licentious

For Shaftel this kind of licentious behavior amounts to “conspicuous consumption disguised as urbanity.”
Don’t Diss the Beauty of Brunch: Defending Our Favorite Meal|Tim Teeman|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Licentious and immoral practices seem to get great head amongst young people,” he preached.
The Hellish Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, Malign Evangelist|Matthew Paul Turner|August 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He also accuses Isabel of repeatedly trying to seduce him, although he supposedly refused to succumb to her licentious ways.
Mark Twain's Sex Toys|Laura Skandera Trombley|June 9, 2010|DAILY BEAST
And shame on Tiger, for another kind of promiscuity—the licentious use of his father.
The Psychological Strategy of the Tiger Ad and Why It Will Backfire|Adam Hanft|April 9, 2010|DAILY BEAST

His Manichaean friends urged him to take this step, which was rendered easier by the licentious lives of the students at Carthage.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 8|Various
Decent women should not live with licentious husbands in the relation of wife.
The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2)|Ida Husted Harper
There is not a single good woman in the book: the officers' wives are licentious, unprincipled, and eaten up with social ambition.
Essays on Russian Novelists|William Lyon Phelps
There was no hint of the vulgar or licentious pleasures which became the characteristics of love in the eighteenth century.
Women of Modern France (Illustrated)|Hugo Paul Thieme (1870-1940)
For him there were left only the idle and licentious diversions of such a court as that in which his father lived.
Famous Affinities of History, Vol 1-4, Complete|Lyndon Orr

British Dictionary definitions for licentious

licentious

/ (laɪˈsɛnʃəs) /

adjective

sexually unrestrained or promiscuous

rare showing disregard for convention

Derived Formslicentiously, adverblicentiousness, noun

Word Origin for licentious

C16: from Latin licentiōsus capricious, from licentia licence

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for licentious

licentious

adj.

"morally unrestrained," 1530s, from Medieval Latin licentiosus "full of license, unrestrained," from Latin licentia (see license). Related: Licentiously; licentiousness.

licentious

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of licentious

Examples from the Web for licentious

licentious

adjective

Word Origin for licentious

licentious