lewd
English · Thesaurus
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lewd¹
- /ljuːd/
- /luːd/
Sounds like leud · Rhymes with -uːd
Where it comes from
From Middle English lewed, lewd, leued (“unlearned, lay, lascivious”), from Old English lǣwede (“unlearned, ignorant, lay”), of uncertain origin. Formally similar to a derivative of the past participle of Old English lǣwan (“to reveal, betray”) in the sense of "exposed as being unlearned" or "easily betrayed, clueless", from Proto-West Germanic *lāwijan, from Proto-Germanic *lēwijaną (“to betray”), from *lēwą (“an opportunity, cause”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēw- (“to leave”). If so, then cognate with Old High German gilāen, firlāen (“to betray”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galēwjan, “to give over, betray”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍅 (lēw, “an opportunity, cause”). Or, according to the OED, probably from Vulgar Latin *laigo-, from Late Latin lāicus (“of the people”), from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós).
The noun is by analogy with nude.
adjective lewder · lewdest
-
Lascivious, sexually promiscuous, rude.
Onstage he was known for ricochet riffs on politics, social issues and cultural matters both high and low; tales of drug and alcohol abuse; lewd commentaries on relations between the sexes; and lightning-like improvisations on anything an audience member might toss at him.
Similar: lubricious, lecherous
- Lay; not clerical. So these great clerks their little wisdom show / To mock the lewd, as learn'd in this as they.
- Uneducated. My ſcoles are not for unthriftes untaught, / For frantick faitours half mad and half ſtraught; / But my learning is of another degree / To taunt theim like liddrons, lewde as thei bee.
- Vulgar, common; typical of the lower orders. But the Jews, which believed not, […] took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, […] and assaulted the house of Jason.
- Base, vile, reprehensible.
noun lewds
- A sexually suggestive image, particularly one which does not involve full nudity. Nudes, lewds and smutty outhouse cards, although they can be bought in some of the rowdy joints, are a negligible percentage of the total, and are unobtainable in the chain stores, drugstores and travel stations which are the outlets for […]
verb lewds · lewding · lewded
- To express lust; to behave in a lewd manner. "Well then,” dropping her bathrobe, lewding her lips, “how 'bout some lovee?”
- To sexualize a character, especially in a fan illustration.
lewd²
verb lewds · lewding · lewded
- Alternative form of lude (“take the drug quaalude”). Babbs, after many days of glumming in his Purina Chow redoubt, strolls over, lewding out, “Hi, Je-e-e-ed!” to Kesey's three-year-old son.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: salacious, lascivious, libidinous, lustful, sexy, obscene, dirty, lenocinant, pornographic, sexual, lubricious, lubric, lewdsome, wanton, lascious, laviscious
Translations
Every language
adj lascivious
| Español | lascivo, lujurioso |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 음탕하다 eumtanghada, 음란하다 eumnanhada |
| 日本語 | 助け平な sukebei na, 嫌らしい iyarashii, エッチ etchi, 淫蕩な intō na |
| 中文 | 好色 hàosè, 淫蕩 /淫荡 yíndàng |
| Português | lascivo, indecente |
| Français | lascif, lubrique, paillard, grivois, obscène |
| Deutsch | lüstern, geil, lasziv |
| Italiano | lascivo, sconcio |
| Ελληνικά | πρόστυχος próstychos, ασελγής aselgís |
| Română | lasciv, indecent |
| Русский | похотли́вый poxotlívyj, развра́тный razvrátnyj, блудли́вый bludlívyj, распу́щенный raspúščennyj, распу́тный raspútnyj, сладостра́стный sladostrástnyj |
| العربية | شَهْوَانِيّ šahwāniyy, شَبِق šabiq, غَلِم ḡalim |
noun a sexually suggestive image
| 中文 | 色圖 /色图 sètú |
|---|
Talk about this word "lewd." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lewd. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lewd. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lewd "lewd." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lewd.Cite this
@misc{lewd_2026,
title = {lewd},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lewd},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
