raunchy
Americanadjective
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vulgar or smutty; crude; earthy; obscene.
a raunchy joke.
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dirty; slovenly; grubby.
adjective
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openly sexual; lusty; earthy
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slovenly or untidy
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of raunchy
An Americanism dating back to 1935–40; origin uncertain
Explanation
Something raunchy is dirty in one sense or another: it's either literally covered in dirt or suggesting dirty sexual situations. Raunchy started off as Army Air Corps slang for something sloppy in 1939. But by the 60's the word had grown to imply another kind of dirtiness: the vulgar, sexual kind. So these days it's safe to assume that a raunchy movie, for example, is full of foul language, obscenities, and graphic sex scenes. And in case you're wondering, an R-rated movie is much more likely to be raunchy than a G movie.
Vocabulary lists containing raunchy
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.
See Examples For:
The investigation centered on alleged incidents that occurred between 2006 and 2013 — the peak of Brand’s Hollywood fame — and laid the groundwork for additional complaints against the raunchy comedian to come to light.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
“She had just read ‘Ball Four,’” Ardell said, referencing Jim Bouton’s book about the raunchy, less-seemly side of baseball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2025
The film wasn’t poking fun at gay men, nor was it particularly raunchy.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2025
The joke is mildly funny to liberal America, where no one is surprised that women can have raunchy senses of humor.
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2024
How could he leave me in that raunchy bar and go off with his woman?
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
The protagonists of those shows and raunchier offshoots like “Bachelor in Paradise” often found their social followings shooting up into the millions, jump-starting careers or side hustles pitching vitamin gummies or meal kits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
RuPaul's show also made drag into a family-friendly entertainment, at least when it gets stripped of some of the raunchier humor.
From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2022
If she thought drivers were cheating on the meter, she would do battle, jump out without paying and yell a raunchier version of “Don’t ever mess with a New Yorker!”
From New York Times ● Dec. 11, 2021
That means it’s probably within the PG-13 guidelines, and therefore more similar to High School Musical: The Musical: The Series than Hulu’s raunchier shows based around teen characters, like PEN15.
From The Verge ● Feb. 25, 2020
He became a hugely successful comedian during the 1960s, with a homespun, conversational style that sharply contrasted with the raunchier fare of "chitlin circuit" comics such as Redd Foxx.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2014
New producer Jimmy Miller helps strip the band down to its rawest, raunchiest essence on songs like “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Stray Cat Blues,” and “Street Fighting Man.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
It’s a bit of a headscratcher how a bunch of descendants of Puritans in a New England state ended up putting some of the raunchiest messages on state-issued license plates.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2022
Easily the raunchiest Confederate relic north of the Cotton Belt is Maryland’s never-in-mode state song, “Maryland, My Maryland.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 9, 2021
Plautus never got back to me with statutory citations but his characterization of my posts did inspire a piece that I had some fun with mourning the Disneyfication of the raunchiest block in America.
From Forbes ● May 30, 2012
Reading crime novels in mixed company, now that some of the toughest and raunchiest fictional cops, detectives and villains are women, has become a delicate exercise in sexual politics.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
