as in passionate
having a strong sexual desire
a moralist who decried what she regarded as the licentious and corrupt culture of the entertainment industry
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Examples of licentious in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Woodhull’s inability to counter the caricature of her as evil and licentious doomed her campaign.
—
Allison Lange / Made By History, TIME, 6 Aug. 2024
Qutb also offered Khamenei a perspective on the United States as something of a licentious society, ideas Qutb had picked up during his sojourn there in the late 1940s.
—Akbar Ganji, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2013
And finally, modern far-right terrorists still frequently invoke the same libelous assertion that white women must be protected from licentious Black men.
—TIME, 14 May 2024
With his passing Thursday morning at the age of 65, Variety looks at the most memorable moments of Shane MacGowan’s licentious legacy.
—A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 30 Nov. 2023
Freedom’s licentious behavior shocks many of her fellow villagers, who conclude that her bottle must have contained some powerful intoxicant.
—Salman Rushdie, The New Yorker, 31 Oct. 2023
Ahmed is referring to the era in Tangier's history, beginning in the interwar period and peaking in the 1950s, when the city served as a licentious playground for a motley assortment of artists, socialites, and hedonists.
—Stephanie Rafanelli, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Aug. 2023
In fact, Protestantism emerged in the 1500s in no small part as a reaction to the licentious behavior of some pilgrims and priests, the selling of indulgences to enrich the church or various members of the clergy, and the corruption that was associated with many pilgrimages of the time.
—James Mills, The Conversation, 24 Mar. 2021
On these ships, Caligula was reported to hold parties where his wild and licentious appetites ran wild, with later historians repeating scurrilous and outlandish rumours about relationships with the wives of his generals and senators, and even with his own sisters.
—Paul Cooper, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2018
Allison Lange / Made By History, TIME, 6 Aug. 2024
Qutb also offered Khamenei a perspective on the United States as something of a licentious society, ideas Qutb had picked up during his sojourn there in the late 1940s.
—Akbar Ganji, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2013
And finally, modern far-right terrorists still frequently invoke the same libelous assertion that white women must be protected from licentious Black men.
—TIME, 14 May 2024
With his passing Thursday morning at the age of 65, Variety looks at the most memorable moments of Shane MacGowan’s licentious legacy.
—A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 30 Nov. 2023
Freedom’s licentious behavior shocks many of her fellow villagers, who conclude that her bottle must have contained some powerful intoxicant.
—Salman Rushdie, The New Yorker, 31 Oct. 2023
Ahmed is referring to the era in Tangier's history, beginning in the interwar period and peaking in the 1950s, when the city served as a licentious playground for a motley assortment of artists, socialites, and hedonists.
—Stephanie Rafanelli, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Aug. 2023
In fact, Protestantism emerged in the 1500s in no small part as a reaction to the licentious behavior of some pilgrims and priests, the selling of indulgences to enrich the church or various members of the clergy, and the corruption that was associated with many pilgrimages of the time.
—James Mills, The Conversation, 24 Mar. 2021
On these ships, Caligula was reported to hold parties where his wild and licentious appetites ran wild, with later historians repeating scurrilous and outlandish rumours about relationships with the wives of his generals and senators, and even with his own sisters.
—Paul Cooper, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'licentious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Licentious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/licentious. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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