as in grossness
the quality or state of being obscene
the sheer raunch of the movie earned it a NC-17 rating
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of raunch
In 2016, Ariel Levy hung out with Wong, risking her life in the passenger seat of the comedian’s RAV4 and learning about her particular brand of radical raunch.
—
Hannah Jocelyn, The New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2024
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
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 Jocelyn, The New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2024
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
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
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If an exclamation point only signified gore and grossness, this gothic rock opera would more than qualify.—
Rachel Simon,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
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The characters’ propensity for ugly faces, silliness and a bit of grossness too, stems from the portrayals of girlhood and young womanhood that appeal to them.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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It is hoped that political ad campaigns would aim to lessen the meanness and divisiveness and vulgarity that have damaged our democracy.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Former President Richard Nixon proved himself no slouch in the vulgarity department after reaching the White House in 1969.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
22 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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Video shows the women squeezing through the window and screaming obscenities at the people inside, while tossing food, beverages and packaging.—
Brian Niemietz,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2026
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Parents should be prepared to turn the channel or cover their children’s eyes and ears so they are not exposed to these obscenities.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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An alkaline compound, baking soda is a non-toxic cleaner with a coarseness that works wonders for scrubbing grime, removing difficult stains, and deodorizing stinky odors.—
Lauren David,
Southern Living,
7 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
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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 9 Mar. 2026.
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