prurient

[ proor-ee-uhnt ]

/ ˈprʊər i ənt /

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See synonyms for: prurient / prurience / pruriency on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc.

causing lasciviousness or lust.

having a restless desire or longing.

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Origin of prurient

1630–40; <Latin prūrient- (stem of prūriēns), present participle of prūrīre to itch

OTHER WORDS FROM prurient

pru·ri·ence, pru·ri·en·cy, nounpru·ri·ent·ly, adverb

Words nearby prurient

prunella, prunelle, pruning hook, pruning shears, prunt, prurient, pruriginous, prurigo, pruritus, Prus., prusik

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use prurient in a sentence

We’re living in America, let’s remember, which is both puritanical and prurient.
Alan Cumming Is Done With All the Queer Tropes|Alex Rees|October 19, 2021|Time
His Jeff Jefferies is her dream twin, a man who has come to prefer the prurient watching of life to actually living it.
The Woman in the Window Is an Effective Agoraphobia Thriller with a Chilly Uptown Sheen|Stephanie Zacharek|May 13, 2021|Time
The only interest served by the Guardians of Peace is our prurient interest.
The Disaster Story That Hollywood Had Coming|Doug McIntyre|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The influence of Oliver Stone, our granddaddy of prurient interest in political violence, hung thick in the air.
The Strange World of Political Assassination Fantasies|James Poulos|September 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

And Monica Lewinsky, now 41, is once again the object of prurient curiosity.
‘Clinton Inc.’ Author Dishes on Monica Lewinsky and the Blue Dress|Lloyd Grove|July 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He had this idea that he was in the wrong body and wanted to become a woman, and these issues are not just prurient.
Alex Gibney on His WikiLeaks Documentary: Julian Assange Got Corrupted|Marlow Stern|January 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Sure, a lot of the interest in his returns is politically prurient.
Romney–Ryan: The Rich Voter’s Dream Ticket|Daniel Gross|August 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Compared with this lordly poem, the erotic novel of the day, with its prurient platitudes, is as a satyr to Hyperion.
Belford's Magazine, Vol. II, No. 3, February 1889|Various
And the prurient, who are most intimately moved by it, make up most of those who cannot see beyond it.
Oscar Wilde|Arthur Ransome
The book was too true to life to please the bourgeois and yet not ribald enough to tickle the prurient.
Shandygaff|Christopher Morley
In London or in New-York, an establishment so public would be thronged with persons eager to gratify a prurient curiosity.
The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 4, April, 1852|Various
At length, the little man with the epaulet commenced a very prurient tale.
Rattlin the Reefer|Edward Howard

British Dictionary definitions for prurient

prurient

/ (ˈprʊərɪənt) /

adjective

unusually or morbidly interested in sexual thoughts or practices

exciting or encouraging lustfulness; erotic

Derived forms of prurient

prurience, nounpruriently, adverb

Word Origin for prurient

C17: from Latin prūrīre to itch, to lust after

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

prurient

Origin of prurient

OTHER WORDS FROM prurient

Words nearby prurient

Words related to prurient

How to use prurient in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for prurient

Derived forms of prurient

Word Origin for prurient