as in warm
formal + usually disapproving
having or showing too much interest in sex
He took a prurient interest in their personal life. a book that appealed to the prurient curiosity of its readers
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of prurient
Once printed, less prurient versions of these portraits would be displayed below the marquee at the Teatro Maipo, like religious icons in a vending machine, on the street-level exterior of the venue.
—
Bryan Barcena,
Artforum,
1 Mar. 2026
Enter the more prurient, more indulgent, 77-minute Ænima.
—
Jeremy D. Larson,
Pitchfork,
25 Jan. 2026
In response, Baxter and many other trans artists prefer to play with such perceptions, frustrating the gaze of prurient onlookers.
—
Grace Byron,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
The desire to know the answer to those questions is not a matter of prurient nosiness.
—
Mick Lasalle,
San Francisco Chronicle,
13 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for prurient
Bryan Barcena,
Artforum,
1 Mar. 2026
Enter the more prurient, more indulgent, 77-minute Ænima.
—
Jeremy D. Larson,
Pitchfork,
25 Jan. 2026
In response, Baxter and many other trans artists prefer to play with such perceptions, frustrating the gaze of prurient onlookers.
—
Grace Byron,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
The desire to know the answer to those questions is not a matter of prurient nosiness.
—
Mick Lasalle,
San Francisco Chronicle,
13 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for prurient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prurient
Adjective
-
This tank top maxi dress is a warm-weather staple.
-
El Niño isn't just moving warm water around randomly in the ocean.
Adjective
-
Which was a fun mid-century technique to render a pic unpublishable.
-
But much of what’s popping up on Substack is appealingly specific, the kind of stuff that’s unpublishable elsewhere.
Adjective
-
This sweet and spicy guacamole contains chunks of golden mango mixed with a combination of jalapeño peppers and habanero pepper purée, plus onion, red bell pepper, cilantro, and, of course, Hass variety avocados.
-
Even the sweet-and-spicy combinations showing up on menus this summer usually start with a base of garlic or ginger.
Adjective
-
Friis Bach, who was then chairman of the Folketing’s secretive Foreign Policy Committee, was asked in early January to begin considering the obscene logistics of a mass evacuation of Greenland.
-
The amount of money spent on election campaigns is absolutely obscene.
Adjective
-
Joseph is facing two charges of lewd and lascivious behavior in Florida and is out of jail on a $600,000 bond following an incident that allegedly occurred in 2020 and involved a 9-year-old girl, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.
-
He was arrested on suspicion of sodomizing a person under 18, lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 14 and first degree burglary.
Adjective
-
Gibson asked for pornographic images of the minor, and sent photos of himself, according to court documents.
-
While Washington drags its feet, kids across the nation are being exposed to vile, pornographic images and ads with no meaningful safeguards to prevent it.
Adjective
-
Varley, a teacher, was also found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm; four counts of cruelty to a person under 16; ten counts of taking indecent images of a child; two counts of possessing indecent images of a child; and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child.
-
Étienne, however, never forgets his first tussle in the woods with Bartosz (Julian Swiezewski), a Polish trucker who saves his lover’s skin when the cops show up to arrest them and other men for indecent behavior.
Adjective
-
One of Smarty Pants’ buttons has a poop symbol on it, and there a couple of suggestive turns of phrase.
-
The messages between Johnson and Duffey in 2024 revealed that the two men used suggestive language.
Cite this Entry
“Prurient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prurient. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
