pedophilia

pe·do·phil·ia | \ ˌpe-də-ˈfi-lē-ə

How to pronounce pedophilia (audio)

, ˌpē-

How to pronounce pedophilia (audio)

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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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Examples of pedophilia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The lawyers for Unsworth argued Musk’s tweets amounted to allegations of pedophilia. — Wired, "Elon Musk Wins in Defamation Suit by British Diver," 6 Dec. 2019 Unsworth claims Musk's tweets harmed him by associating his name with the act of pedophilia. — Kerry Flynn, CNN, "British caver suing Elon Musk gets emotional during his testimony about 'pedo guy' tweet," 5 Dec. 2019 Including episodes of bestiality and pedophilia, the author even ups the ante this time around. — Daniel Tenreiro, National Review, "The Houellebecqian Moment," 16 Nov. 2019 This Blog is here for a purpose—to fight pedophilia and znus [lechery], not for snide remarks, filthy comments or threats. — Linda Stasi, Harper's magazine, "Secrets and Lies," 16 Sep. 2019 Ito was already in hot water for accepting contributions from Epstein, whose pedophilia has been public knowledge since 2008, when the financier pled guilty to criminal charges in Florida arising from his liaisons with underage girls. — Ephrat Livni, Quartz, "Another powerful person just lost a job over ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein," 7 Sep. 2019 The most prolific of contemporary American docu makers, Alex Gibney’s recent subjects have included Scientology, Wikileaks, sports doping and the pedophilia scandal that shook the Catholic Church. — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, "Critic's Picks: Venice Film Festival's 8 Most Anticipated Premieres," 23 Aug. 2019 Musk claims that, when growing up in his native South Africa, the former term implied the latter, rather than actual pedophilia. — David Meyer, Fortune, "The Markets’ Fed Bet: CEO Daily," 17 Sep. 2019 Former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein said Saturday on Twitter that preventing self-harm by people accused of pedophilia is difficult. — Anchorage Daily News, "What’s known and what’s next after Jeffrey Epstein’s death," 11 Aug. 2019

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.

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Last Updated

11 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Pedophilia.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedophilia?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=p&file=pedoph02. Accessed 14 December 2019.

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