1
as in pornographic
dealing in or with explicitly sexual material
for his comedy-club performances the stand-up comic's routines are definitely X-rated
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in obscene
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
the jerk should have known better than to tell an X-rated joke at a company function
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of X-rated
The content of its productions has included legitimate theater, vaudeville, burlesque, striptease, movies (many X-rated), classical music and jazz as well as occasional forays into boxing, bodybuilding and politics.
—
Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2025
For the first seven years of the rating system (1969-1975), nearly half of the top films (33 of 70) were R- or X-rated.
—Tom Brueggemann, IndieWire, 26 July 2024
What audiences see are silhouettes engaged in a shadow play of entwined hands and arched backs, sensual but not X-rated.
—Rebecca Ritzel, Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2024
Granted, none of these are X-rated, but one of my concerns is that the intensity of this online relationship has grown quite exponentially in a very short time and could very well lead to actual X-rated.
—Amy Dickinson, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2024
Keep the red boost light on with your right foot and the Riviera will eventually peak out at 105 mph, although the speedometer is X-rated above 85.
—Don Sherman, Car and Driver, 8 Mar. 2023
Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2025
For the first seven years of the rating system (1969-1975), nearly half of the top films (33 of 70) were R- or X-rated.
—Tom Brueggemann, IndieWire, 26 July 2024
What audiences see are silhouettes engaged in a shadow play of entwined hands and arched backs, sensual but not X-rated.
—Rebecca Ritzel, Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2024
Granted, none of these are X-rated, but one of my concerns is that the intensity of this online relationship has grown quite exponentially in a very short time and could very well lead to actual X-rated.
—Amy Dickinson, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2024
Keep the red boost light on with your right foot and the Riviera will eventually peak out at 105 mph, although the speedometer is X-rated above 85.
—Don Sherman, Car and Driver, 8 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for X-rated
Adjective
-
There is plenty of pornographic decoration in contemporary popular culture, but very little of it is consequential.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
-
Authorities alleged that their tactics included intimidating the women, placing them under constant surveillance and forcing them to perform pornographic acts that were then shared on social media.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
31 May 2026
Adjective
-
It was seized by the post office (as Rosset had expected) and duly declared obscene by the postmaster of the city of New York, a man named Robert Christenberry.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
-
Who says a man can’t appreciate the gleaming, obscene form of an Aston Martin supercar or the growl of its overpriced engine?—
Alex James Kane,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
Adjective
-
It is estimated that, based on measures of blood glucose, lipids, and other parameters, less than 12% of the adult American population can even be said to metabolically healthy.—
Christopher Duggan,
STAT,
27 Mar. 2026
-
For many readers and critics, the perception was that Mansfield was almost writing children’s fiction, since most of her stories are deceptively easy to read, although her themes are entirely adult in both form and content.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Her husband says that's a very vulgar pet.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
28 May 2026
-
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s biographer Andrew Lownie shared a vulgar pickup line that the former prince allegedly used while trying to pick up women.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
Despite its unnerving intimacy, which suggests either erotic pursuit or familiar proximity, the diminutive print calls to mind the photos of Saul Leiter, a figure surprisingly unmentioned in Ghirri’s essays despite his frequent fond allusions to American street photography.—
James Quandt,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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The frantic pace of her erotic assignments seemed to give her the edge professionally.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“X-rated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/X-rated. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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