LICENTIOUS Synonyms: 61 Similar and Opposite Words

licentious

adjective

lī-ˈsen(t)-shəs

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of licentious Wilkes was a member of the supposedly licentious Hellfire Club, one of those groups (think of Led Zeppelin in our time) known for satanic pursuits that probably were mostly drunken stunts. —

Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 8 June 2026 While Black writers and artists looked to Harlem as a source of optimism and inspiration, whites saw Harlem and other centers of urban Black life as alluring quarters for their more licentious desires. —

Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026 She’s preoccupied though, training a gun on the facility’s head officer, Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), whose RFK Jr. rasp and licentious focus on Perfidia sets him up as a comedic draw and a convincing picture of America’s sanctioned white violence. —

Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2025 His strained, sandpaper-coarse timbre served as an ideal conduit for songs concerned with boisterous revelries, shady agreements, licentious intentions and musical pleasures. —

Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 25 May 2025 The mansion has been renovated before, and previous mayor Dave Bing, when newly elected, was transparent about the amount used on upgrades, ending the shroud of licentious rumors regarding the mansion since 2010. —

Leah Olajide, Freep.com, 22 May 2025 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 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for licentious

Adjective

It was captured as monarch and his eldest son visited the Natural History Museum in London to kick off the countdown to COP30, the annual United Nations climate change summit to be held the following month in Brazil, as both are passionate advocates for the environment.

— Séraphine Roger, Vanity Fair, 21 June 2026
Alejandra Gomez, the executive director of the non-profit LUCHA, says that the moratorium emerged from the passionate advocacy of many Arizonans—and in the face of fierce counter-lobbying from the data center industry led by former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

— Andrew R. Chow, Time, 19 June 2026