porn
Americannoun
-
Sometimes porno pornography; sexually explicit videos, photographs, writings, or the like, produced to elicit sexual arousal (often used attributively).
arrested for selling porn;
a porn star;
porn films.
-
television shows, articles, photographs, etc., thought to cater to an excessive, irresistible desire for or interest in something.
a magazine filled with enticing food porn; an addiction to real-estate porn.
noun
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Also called: porno. pornography
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pejorative publications or broadcasts that demonstrate an unhealthy or voyeuristic interest in a particular subject
property porn
food porn
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of porn
First recorded in 1960–65; by shortening
Compare meaning
How does porn compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Porn is an abbreviation of pornography, a type of movie, magazine, book, or website that features sex or sexual situations with no other redeeming features. Porn is different than erotica, which may also feature sex but has more artistic merit. And it's different from a mainstream movie with a few sex scenes. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said about porn, "I'll know it when I see it." People can also use the word porn to describe anything singular in focus that's meant to stir the senses: food porn, for example, features endless, excessive pictures of amazing looking food.
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.
“This isn’t bear porn or AI doomer fan-fiction.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
“This isn’t bear porn or AI doomer fan-fiction. The sole intent of this piece is modeling a scenario that’s been relatively underexplored,” they say.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 23, 2026
This book is absolutely not trauma porn; it is, instead, a celebration of life, both of Sinéad herself as well as each of the authors of the essays.
From Salon • Aug. 5, 2025
Critics derided the Channel 4 programme, which was filmed in 2014 and broadcast a year later, as "poverty porn" and an MP urged those in the area not to take part.
From BBC • Nov. 26, 2024
He shtaid mit us ven ve vos all zick, unt he is zhust so cood as if he was porn in Deutschland.
From The End of the World A Love Story by Eggleston, Edward
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.
