salacious

play

adjective sa·la·cious \ sə-ˈlā-shəs \

Updated on: 11 Sep 2017

Definition of salacious

1 :arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination

salacious headlines

salacious lyrics

2 :lecherous, lustful

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salaciously

adverb

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salaciousness

noun

See salacious defined for English-language learners

Examples of salacious in a Sentence

Lady Worsley's Whim, the story of Lady Worsley and her husband Sir Richard Worsley, is also reconstructed from some well-thumbed texts, in this case trial transcripts and newspaper reports of cases of "Criminal Conversation" which became popular eighteenth-century erotica. Charges … were brought by husbands seeking damages from the purported lovers of their supposedly adulterous wives, and the detail, which needed to be explicit, was frequently salacious. —Norma Clarke, Times Literary Supplement, 21 Nov. 2008
From snarky political commentary to salacious "memoirs" that flirt with both fact and fiction, scores of bloggers have gotten the book deal boon—with mixed results at the register. —Eunice Lee et al., Hyphen, Winter 2007
There's little difference between the junk mail in your mailbox and the junk e-mail that appears on your monitor, except that the e-mail is often of a salacious nature, e.g., the "hot, live XXX action" available at various dark alleyways on the web. —Michael Saunders, Boston Globe, 6 Oct.1997
a song with salacious lyrics
the salacious Greek god Pan is generally portrayed as having the legs, horns, and ears of a goat

Recent Examples of salacious from the Web

Yet salacious headlines about the fatalities could discourage even more women from choosing epidurals in Japan, which already has one of the lowest rates of epidural use among developed countries.

— claire zillman, Fortune, "Fighting Sexism with Fake Male Co-Founder, Melania’s Shoe Disaster, and Michelle Bachelet’s Mission," 30 Aug. 2017
True Crime Cleveland revisits infamous Sam Sheppard case, Torso Murders (photos) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A courtroom circus loaded with salacious details, media overkill, a dead wife and a killer on the loose.

— marc bona, cleveland.com, "WTAM 5-minute podcast: Beer, wine and food (podcast)," 9 Aug. 2017
The 35-page document included unverified, salacious allegations about Trump.

— steven t. dennis, Bloomberg.com, "Trump Jr., Manafort Asked to Testify July 26 by Senate Panel," 19 July 2017
Ivanka’s soft-spoken dishonesty is less salacious than her father’s and brother’s.

— politifact, Teen Vogue, "Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. Contradict the Truth, Too," 15 July 2017
But, if one goes down the two-decade-old rabbit hole of Charles-Diana divorce content, there’s salacious mud flung from both sides.

— elise taylor, Vogue, "Is It Time to Stop Playing the Blame Game With Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s Marriage?," 26 June 2017
In a pre-inauguration press conference Jan. 11, Trump reacted angrily to the leak of a dossier containing unverified, salacious information about his behavior during a visit to Moscow.

— jim drinkard, The Seattle Times, "AP FACT CHECK: Trump team lacks a straight story on Russia," 26 June 2017
After that finishes, Comey stays behind for a one-on-one meeting to tell Trump about a dossier by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele containing salacious allegations.

— marshall cohen, CNN, "Here's some of what Mueller might look at if he investigates obstruction," 18 June 2017
Although testimony about the secret life of teenagers made for compelling and at times salacious listening, the underlying legal issues have implications for future cases about free speech and assisted suicide.

— barbara demick, latimes.com, "Can words kill? Michelle Carter on trial for urging her 18-year-old boyfriend to kill himself," 15 June 2017

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