salacious

adjective sa·la·cious \ sə-ˈlā-shəs \

|Updated on: 22 Jul 2018

Examples: salacious in a Sentence

Definition of salacious

1 : arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination

salacious headlines

salacious lyrics

2 : lecherous, lustful

… have fiercely denounced the book's sketches of melodramatic lovers and salacious partygoers …
—Casey Greenfield

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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

The Tallahassee native teased the remix on his Instagram live Friday morning (July 6) and ultimately decided to bless fans and release the salacious track just a few hours later.

— michael saponara, Billboard, "T-Pain Puts His Own Spin on Ella Mai's 'Boo'd Up' for Signature 'T-Mix'," 6 July 2018
And the two eventually faced off in court, during which time the U.K. newspapers dissected every salacious detail of Scott’s testimony.

— sophie gilbert, The Atlantic, "Sex, Lies, and Bunnies in A Very English Scandal," 3 July 2018
Even in their wildest dreams, the British tabloids couldn’t have imagined such a salacious story dropping into their laps.

— lorraine boissoneault, Smithsonian, "The True Story of “A Very English Scandal” and the Trials of a Closeted Gay Politician," 27 June 2018
The more salacious elements of the dossier, gathered by former British spy Christopher Steele, are unconfirmed by the FBI.

— chris cillizza, CNN, "Donald Trump said 11 false things in just 5 tweets Sunday morning," 20 May 2018
McCain also gives his most complete version of his role in intrigue surrounding a dossier of salacious research and raw intelligence on Trump and his connections with the Russians.

— dan nowicki, azcentral, "5 takeaways from Sen. John McCain's new memoir, 'The Restless Wave'," 16 May 2018
When the meeting ended, Comey stayed behind with Trump to discuss the salacious dossier.

— philip rucker, Anchorage Daily News, "Comey’s memoir: Trump fixates on proving lewd dossier allegations false," 13 Apr. 2018
When the meeting ended, Comey stayed behind with Trump to discuss the salacious dossier.

— philip rucker, chicagotribune.com, "James Comey's memoir: Trump fixates on proving lewd dossier allegations false," 12 Apr. 2018
But its lasting impact didn't come from salacious detail about rowdy parties or tips on when to eat fish.

— brad rickman, Condé Nast Traveler, "Remembering Anthony Bourdain," 8 June 2018

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.