prurient
having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc.
causing lasciviousness or lust.
having a restless desire or longing.
Origin of prurient
1Other words from prurient
- pru·ri·ence, pru·ri·en·cy, noun
- pru·ri·ent·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use prurient in a sentence
All weekend reporters in eastern Ukraine were walking a bizarre tightrope, of prurience, politesse, and ghoulishness.
Stern, however, eschewed innuendo for straightforward prurience.
‘The Tonight Show’ Fight: Howard Stern vs. Jay Leno | The Daily Beast Video | March 20, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe California obscenity statute defines “prurience” as “a morbid, degrading, unhealthy interest in sex.”
If Porn Isn’t Art, Does It Still Have a Right to Exist? | Michael Stabile | May 2, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTSomehow, the Virginia bill became a symbol of right-wing prurience, invasiveness, and insensitivity.
As Virginia Ultrasound Rule Fails, Is GOP Seeing Reproductive-Rights Backlash? | Michelle Goldberg | February 24, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBoth books put graphic writing about sex in the service of something besides mere prurience.
There is something unpleasant, painful, degrading in this ingenious mingling of prurience and prudery.
Impressions And Comments | Havelock EllisThere was no angry prurience for fame or gold underlying such complaints.
William Blake | Algernon Charles SwinburneBurton argues that the "naive indecencies of the text of The Arabian Nights are rather gaudisserie than prurience."
The Life of Sir Richard Burton | Thomas WrightHe never spoke on this subject with the slobbery grin of the voluptuary, or the leer of prurience.
Flowers of Freethought | George W. FooteThat amazing mixture of sententious moralities, of prurience, and of mawkish sentiment, became the rage of the Town.
Henry Fielding: A Memoir | G. M. Godden
British Dictionary definitions for prurient
/ (ˈprʊərɪənt) /
unusually or morbidly interested in sexual thoughts or practices
exciting or encouraging lustfulness; erotic
Origin of prurient
1Derived forms of prurient
- prurience, noun
- pruriently, adverb
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
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