as in grossness
the quality or state of being obscene
the sheer raunch of the movie earned it a NC-17 rating
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 raunch
Read: The cruel social experiment of reality TV For its recent seasons, Love Island USA moved to Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, which enabled it to embrace the low-stakes raunch of its foreign counterpart.
—
Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 7 Aug. 2024
Harley Quinn is raunch, sweetness, and violence all in one, partly thanks to its assured voice acting (Kaley Cuoco’s Harley is great, but Ron Funches’s King Shark is the heart of the series.)
24.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2024
The woman idealized by raunch culture is an easily identifiable archetype.
—Constance Grady, Vox, 2 Mar. 2024
Female viewers appear drawn by the romance and the toned bodies, of course, but also by the entirely consensual nature of the vigorous raunch, the desire for mutual pleasure between partners and the relative absence of macho toxicity.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for raunch
Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 7 Aug. 2024
Harley Quinn is raunch, sweetness, and violence all in one, partly thanks to its assured voice acting (Kaley Cuoco’s Harley is great, but Ron Funches’s King Shark is the heart of the series.)
24.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2024
The woman idealized by raunch culture is an easily identifiable archetype.
—Constance Grady, Vox, 2 Mar. 2024
Female viewers appear drawn by the romance and the toned bodies, of course, but also by the entirely consensual nature of the vigorous raunch, the desire for mutual pleasure between partners and the relative absence of macho toxicity.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for raunch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for raunch
Noun
-
There are no great surprises from here on out, though the sheer, lusty grossness of the fallout is occasionally startling.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
-
If an exclamation point only signified gore and grossness, this gothic rock opera would more than qualify.—
Rachel Simon,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Nestled between the layers is a genuinely heartfelt story that blooms from beneath all the aesthetic and verbal vulgarity, thus making innate, and intuitive, his ongoing, ever-evolving manifesto on the state of things.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
IndieWire,
16 May 2026
-
In addition, prosecutors say swastikas, antisemitic slogans and vulgarity were spray-painted on pillars underneath M-53 and Canal, a brick wall near a business and an electrical box at a second business.—
Joseph Buczek,
CBS News,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The other funnymen of the time—Milton Berle with his lewd suggestiveness, Jackie Gleason with his baleful roar—did the same shtick over and over.—
David Denby,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
There’s some rudeness, aggressive conversations, and crudeness, but nothing too over the top.—
Lynnette Nicholas,
Parents,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
While the council remained inside to finish the meeting, including approving a local emergency declaration, police were outside where a small mob gathered, yelling obscenities at the officers.—
Victoria Le,
Oc Register,
27 May 2026
-
Across the state, officers directed obscenities, insults and threats at students just before or after using physical force, records and video footage show.—
Clare Amari,
New York Times,
27 May 2026
Noun
-
But many seemingly urbane texts also benefited from the intellectual and moral coarseness of their times.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
-
The term plant texture refers to the fineness or coarseness, roughness or smoothness, heaviness or lightness of a particular plant.—
David Beaulieu,
The Spruce,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Despite the heavy central theme of chronic illness, there’s a delicious bawdiness to Will There Ever Be Another You, a vulgar juvenilia evoking graffiti-tag genitals or the ding dong ditch scene from Billy Madison.—
Eric Olson
September 23,
Literary Hub,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Over-Nite Sensation is a triumph: a concentrated digest from perhaps the most popular stretch of his career, and a freeze-frame of his compositional flowering and ingenious lyrical ribaldry.—
Daniel Felsenthal,
The Atlantic,
27 Nov. 2023
-
Finding liberty in punk artistry, Dury updated the tradition of British music-hall ribaldry and rude folk humor.—
Armond White,
National Review,
3 Aug. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Raunch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/raunch. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
