prostitute
Americannoun
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a person who engages in sexual intercourse or other sex acts for money; sex worker.
- Synonyms:
- strumpet, trollop, courtesan, streetwalker, call girl
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a person who willingly uses their talent or ability in a base and unworthy way, usually for money.
verb (used with object)
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to sell or offer (oneself) to provide sex acts for money.
-
to put to any base or unworthy use.
to prostitute one's talents.
noun
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a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money
-
a man who engages in such activity, esp in homosexual practices
-
a person who offers his talent or work for unworthy purposes
verb
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to offer (oneself or another) in sexual intercourse for money
-
to offer (a person, esp oneself, or a person's talent) for unworthy purposes
Other Word Forms
- prostitution noun
- prostitutor noun
- unprostituted adjective
Etymology
Origin of prostitute
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin prōstitūta and prōstitūtus, noun uses of feminine and masculine forms of prōstitūtus, past participle of prōstituere “to place before, expose (for sale),” equivalent to prō- “before” + -stitū-, combining form of statuere “to make stand” + -tus past participle suffix; pro- 1, status
Explanation
A prostitute is someone who gets paid to have sex — the word usually refers to a woman, but there are male prostitutes as well. These days a prostitute is often called a sex worker, and there are many slang words, such as hooker and whore, that mean the same thing. A prostitute works for a pimp and her customers are called johns. You could say a woman is prostituting herself, or that the pimp is prostituting her. Sometimes people who hate their jobs feel like they're prostituting themselves, even though no sex is involved.
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.
The authors were radical women from various backgrounds—one was an impoverished widow and another a onetime prostitute, while a third had been a princess who chopped off her hair moments before her wedding.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
BBC Verify searched all the circulars for 2008 and could find no reference to "informed choice" or "child prostitute" or any phrase similar to the one cited in the social media posts.
From BBC • Jan. 9, 2025
As the first act of Verdi’s “La Traviata” ends, Violetta, a high-end prostitute, is suffering the symptoms of tuberculosis.
From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2023
“I want to humanize her. I don’t want her to be seen as a prostitute or a runaway or somebody that people feel like ‘Oh, well, they live that lifestyle.’
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2022
She was also an advocate for “free love,” a blackmailer, an accused bigamist, possibly a prostitute, and a spiritualist who claimed she channeled the spirit of Demosthenes, a statesman from ancient Greece.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
