pedophilia

noun pe·do·phil·ia \ ˌpe-də-ˈfi-lē-ə , ˌpē- \

Updated on: 11 Sep 2017

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

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pedophiliac

play \ˌpe-də-ˈfi-lē-ˌak, ˌpē-\ or pedophilic play \ˌpe-də-ˈfi-lik, ˌpē-\ adjective

See pedophilia defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of pedophilia from the Web

All of this is to say that even before videos surfaced revealing his endorsement of pedophilia, Yiannopoulos’s derangement was obvious.

— elliot kaufman, National Review, "Campus Conservatives Gave the Alt-Right a Platform," 15 Aug. 2017
Two years ago John Dowd, the G-man whose investigation resulted in Rose’s banishment, went on a Philadelphia radio show and for some unexplained reason decided a quarter-century after the fact that accusing Rose of pedophilia was a good idea.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Paul Daugherty: Nothing is shocking with Pete Rose anymore," 31 July 2017
Investigations into pedophilia and physical abuse among Irish clergy have revealed thousands of victims over decades, with four Dublin archbishops found to have effectively turned a blind eye to cases of abuse from 1975 to 2004.

— sharon verghis / sydney, Time, "Whatever Its Outcome, the Case of Cardinal Pell Raises Hope of Reform Among Australian Victims of Clerical Abuse," 11 July 2017
Alissa Nutting’s first novel, Tampa, is a novel about pedophilia with complete clarity of vision: a middle school teacher who sleeps with her 14-year-old student.

— kevin nguyen, GQ, "These Are the Best Books of July," 6 July 2017
Carson has also compared being gay to pedophilia and beastiality, which actually is more tired than offensive at this point.

— luke darby, GQ, "The Trump Administration Has Been a Disaster for LGBT Americans," 30 June 2017
He has been fined for incitement against an ethnic group after calling Islam a religion of theft and pedophilia.

— raine tiessalo, Bloomberg.com, "Finnish Populists Push Premier to Consider Coalition's Future," 10 June 2017
In February, Milo Yiannopoulos, one of Breitbart’s biggest stars who took glee in provoking liberals, resigned from the site over his glib remarks about pedophilia.

— daniel victor, New York Times, "Breitbart News Editor Says She Was Fired After Anti-Muslim Tweets," 5 June 2017
Like the false idea that gay men have a high propensity for pedophilia.

— jaweed kaleem, latimes.com, "Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, on Trump and what counts as 'hate'," 31 May 2017

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.