bawdy

adjective \ ˈbȯ-dē \

Definition of bawdy

bawdier; bawdiest

1 :obscene, lewd

a bawdy comedian

2 :boisterously or humorously indecent

bawdy jokes

—

bawdily

play \ˈbȯ-də-lē\ adverb

—

bawdiness

play \ˈbȯ-dē-nəs\ noun

See bawdy defined for English-language learners

See bawdy defined for kids

Examples of bawdy in a Sentence

a bawdy film that is not appropriate for children
a bawdy comment about someone you work with could get you fired

Recent Examples of bawdy from the Web

There are three shows nightly, which are rumored to get progressively more bawdy than the last.

— caro clark, GQ, "Dawson City Is in the Middle of Nowhere and That's Precisely Why You Should Go There," 25 Aug. 2017
This may have just been Lewis's bawdy sense of humor, and there's no way to independently confirm any affair happened.

— megan friedman, Country Living, "Jerry Lewis Once Claimed He Had an Affair With Marilyn Monroe," 21 Aug. 2017
This Sundance grad from writer/director Jeff Baena is bawdy, blasphemous and very funny when on its game, which isn’t always.

— steve persall, kansascity, "Meet the raunchiest 14th century nuns ever in ‘The Little Hours’," 20 July 2017
The hair was spiky, the tans were overdone, and the Ron-Ron juice was dangerously overflowing—these were the glory days of MTV’s bawdy social experiment known as the Jersey Shore.

— vanityfair.com, "G.T.L. for Life: Jersey Shore Set for a Reunion Series at E!," 14 July 2017
The hair was spiky, the tans were overdone, and the Ron-Ron juice was dangerously overflowing—these were the glory days of MTV’s bawdy social experiment known as the Jersey Shore.

— yohana desta, HWD, "G.T.L. for Life: Jersey Shore Set for a Reunion Series at E!," 14 July 2017
The Little Hours Is an Alt-Comedy Gone Medieval—David Sims watches Jeff Baena’s new film, which juxtaposes foul-mouthed 21st-century humor with bawdy tales from the Middle Ages.

— the editors, The Atlantic, "The Atlantic's Week in Culture," 30 June 2017
But this being 2017 and all, a screenshot of the bawdy tweet lives on.

— vic ryckaert, Indianapolis Star, "Irsay Twitter account sends out raunchy image," 29 June 2017
The comedy in this production is carried primarily by two characters: Pompey (David Coffee), a laborer whose many jobs include being a bartender at a bawdy house, and Lucio (Garret Storms), a goofy and loquacious friend of Claudio.

— punch shaw, star-telegram.com, "Trinity Shakespeare Fest gets off to roaring start," 16 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bawdy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of bawdy

bawd + ¹-y

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1513

See Words from the same year

bawdy Synonyms

Synonyms

obscene, blue, coarse, crude, dirty, filthy, foul, gross, gutter, impure, indecent, lascivious, lewd, locker-room, nasty, pornographic, porny, profane, raunchy, ribald, smutty, stag, trashy, unprintable, vulgar, wanton, X-rated

Antonyms

clean, decent, G-rated, nonobscene, wholesome

Near Antonyms

priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, staid, straitlaced (or straightlaced), Victorian; correct, decorous, genteel, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly; innocuous, inoffensive; acceptable, agreeable, desirable, pleasant, pleasing, welcome; appropriate, becoming, fit, meet, suitable; immaculate, perfect, pure, spotless, virginal; approved, endorsed (also indorsed), sanctioned

bawdy

noun

Definition of bawdy

:bawdry 2

Recent Examples of bawdy from the Web

Arianda must switch back and forth from playing a bawdy, swearing wannabe actress to a 19th-century seductress, pull off a British accent and hold her own against Broadway charmer Hugh Dancy.

— kerry pieri, Harper's BAZAAR, "Venus in Fur on Broadway: A Star is Born," 9 Nov. 2011