lubricious

American  

[loo-brish-uhs] / luˈbrɪʃ əs /

adjective

1. arousing or expressive of sexual desire; lustful; lecherous.

   Synonyms:

   obscene, pornographic, libidinous, lascivious

2. lubricous.

---

lubricious British  

/ ˈluːbrɪkəs, luːˈbrɪʃəs /

adjective

1. formal lewd, lascivious

2. rare oily or slippery

---

Other Word Forms

• lubriciously adverb
• nonlubricious adjective
• nonlubriciously adverb
• nonlubriciousness noun
• unlubricious adjective

Etymology

Origin of lubricious

First recorded in 1575–85; lubric + -ious

Explanation

A lubricious movie is one that your mother probably wouldn't want you to see, no matter how old you are. Something that's lubricious is inappropriately or offensively sexual. Something that's lewd or lascivious, like dirty pictures or skimpy clothing, can be described as lubricious. Occasionally lubricious is also used to mean tricky or sly, like a slick or lubricious used car salesman. A related meaning is "oily or slippery," like a lubricious bar of soap sitting in a puddle of water. This is actually the original meaning of the word, from the Latin root lubricus, "to make slippery or smooth."

Example Sentences

The task of pulling the world back from nuclear war and annihilation falls to the lubricious Walter, who is irresponsible but cunning and determined.

From New York Times • Jun. 19, 2015

Playwright Sandra Deer has created a clan of faded gentry who mingle the greed of the family in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes with the lubricious dementia of Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart.

From Time Magazine Archive

Because Actress West's manner of dealing with her material is light-hearted rather than lubricious, Vm No Angel, like She Done Him Wrong, is much more amusing than offensive.

From Time Magazine Archive

The great number of severe accidents annually caused by the idiotic custom of casting orange-peel and such other lubricious integuments recklessly about the side-walks, has long furnished a topic for public animadversion.

From Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 02, April 9, 1870 by Various