licentiousness

American  

[lahy-sen-shuhs-nis] / laɪˈsɛn ʃəs nɪs /

noun

1. a throwing off of sexual restraint; lewd character or behavior.

   The Hays Code tried to stamp out all lust and licentiousness in American film.

2. wanton disregard or transgression of laws, rules, or moral norms.

   Freedom entails responsibilities, or else it degenerates into licentiousness.

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Other Word Forms

• nonlicentiousness noun
• overlicentiousness noun
• unlicentiousness noun

Etymology

Origin of licentiousness

licentious ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

And at least one regulator has taken notice of chatbot licentiousness.

From Reuters • Mar. 18, 2023

Freedom without responsibility no longer is freedom, it is a kind of licentiousness that is socially as well as personally damaging.

From Salon • May 31, 2020

“Radicalism flourished in Boston, Bristol, and Bengal, while fears of disorder and licentiousness provoked rural elites in both the Hudson Valley and the English shires,” du Rivage writes.

From The New Yorker • May 8, 2017

But it’s nonetheless a rollicking if somewhat textually thin fusion of two Restoration-era romps, by Colley Cibber and John Vanbrugh, appended with a declamatory Shakespearean wrap-up exalting love and licentiousness in their infinite varieties.

From New York Times • Dec. 25, 2012

Let me not suppose that she dares go about, Emma Woodhouse-ing me!—But upon my honour, there seems no limits to the licentiousness of that woman’s tongue!”

From "Emma" by Jane Austen