pedophilia

noun
pe·​do·​phil·​ia | \ ˌpe-də-ˈfi-lē-ə How to pronounce pedophilia (audio) , ˌpē- How to pronounce pedophilia (audio) \

Definition of pedophilia

: sexual perversion in which children are the preferred sexual object specifically : a psychiatric disorder in which an adult has sexual fantasies about or engages in sexual acts with a prepubescent child

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from pedophilia

pedophiliac \ ˌpe-​də-​ˈfi-​lē-​ˌak How to pronounce pedophiliac (audio) , ˌpē-​ \ or pedophilic \ ˌpe-​də-​ˈfi-​lik How to pronounce pedophilic (audio) , ˌpē-​ \ adjective

Examples of pedophilia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Jeffrey Epstein is not the only one of Trump’s running buddies to be credibly accused of pedophilia. Nina Burleigh, The New Republic, "Trump’s Women Are Trapped in a Cult of “Empowerment”," 13 Apr. 2020 One of the church’s officials was convicted of pedophilia in 2018. Los Angeles Times, "Pentecostal church in Sacramento linked to dozens of coronavirus cases," 2 Apr. 2020 Critics express doubt that any one psychological test could effectively identify predators and say the church is wrongly linking homosexuality and pedophilia. Matt Sedensky, Anchorage Daily News, "After abuse scandals, seminarians pledge to ‘get it right’," 17 Feb. 2020 Back in July, Disney cut ties with Gunn after far-right personalities uncovered old (now-deleted) tweets in which Gunn joked about rape, pedophilia, and masturbation. Alex Abad-santos, Vox, "Warner Bros. has hired ex-Marvel director James Gunn to work on a Suicide Squad sequel," 9 Oct. 2018 The #MeToo of France’s publishing world Our writer tracked down Gabriel Matzneff, the French writer under investigation for his promotion of pedophilia, after he was abandoned by the same powerful people who had protected him until a few weeks ago. Penn Bullock, New York Times, "New Hampshire, Coronavirus, #MeToo: Your Wednesday Briefing," 12 Feb. 2020 Similarly, Disney fired the writer and director of Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn, after a series of decade-old insensitive tweets about pedophilia and molestation resurfaced. Danielle Abril, Fortune, "Twitter tests disappearing tweets for users who are uncomfortable with permanence," 4 Mar. 2020 The comedy touched third rails — the Holocaust, pedophilia, necrophilia, terrorist acts, to name a few — that shocked the audience but never felt cheap. Richard Ruelas, azcentral, "Comedian Louis C.K. talked about 'it' on a Phoenix stage. But mostly he did his comedy," 23 Feb. 2020 While Milan prosecutors first heard about Reséndiz’s pedophilia in March 2013 when the therapist reported it, the crimes were old news to both the Vatican and the Legion. Washington Post, "Disgraced religious order tried to get abuse victim to lie," 17 Feb. 2020

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

See More

First Known Use of pedophilia

1906, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for pedophilia

New Latin

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about pedophilia

Time Traveler for pedophilia

Time Traveler

The first known use of pedophilia was in 1906

See more words from the same year

Statistics for pedophilia

Last Updated

16 Apr 2020

Cite this Entry

“Pedophilia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedophilia. Accessed 8 May. 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for pedophilia

pedophilia

noun
pe·​do·​phil·​ia | \ ˌped-ə-ˈfil-ē-ə How to pronounce pedophilia (audio) , ˌpēd- How to pronounce pedophilia (audio) \
variants: or chiefly British paedophilia \ ˌpēd-​ How to pronounce paedophilia (audio) \

Medical Definition of pedophilia

: sexual perversion in which children are the preferred sexual object specifically : a psychiatric disorder in which an adult has sexual fantasies about or engages in sexual acts with a prepubescent child

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on pedophilia

Nglish: Translation of pedophilia for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of pedophilia for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pedophilia

Comments on pedophilia

What made you want to look up pedophilia? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Name More Food!

Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Syn City

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!