as in pornographic
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
inappropriately used office e-mail for an exchange of raunchy jokes
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 raunchy
Usually, a film this raucous and raunchy might struggle to be taken seriously.
—
Nate Jones, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
And while some gay getaways, like Puerto Vallarta or an Atlantis cruise, skew toward the raunchy, there are options for all kinds of travel preferences.
—Zach Wichter, USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2025
McKinnon played Colleen Rafferty, a woman with raunchy stories of her encounters with aliens and Streep played the character’s mother, who has had her own alien encounters.
—Lisa Respers France, CNN, 12 Mar. 2025
For the anniversary special, Streep played Colleen Rafferty Sr., the equally unfiltered mother who also had raunchy run-ins with extraterrestrials.
—Terry Dickerson, NBC News, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for raunchy
Nate Jones, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
And while some gay getaways, like Puerto Vallarta or an Atlantis cruise, skew toward the raunchy, there are options for all kinds of travel preferences.
—Zach Wichter, USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2025
McKinnon played Colleen Rafferty, a woman with raunchy stories of her encounters with aliens and Streep played the character’s mother, who has had her own alien encounters.
—Lisa Respers France, CNN, 12 Mar. 2025
For the anniversary special, Streep played Colleen Rafferty Sr., the equally unfiltered mother who also had raunchy run-ins with extraterrestrials.
—Terry Dickerson, NBC News, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for raunchy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for raunchy
Adjective
-
This social justice kitsch becomes a mildly obscene evocation of racial terrorism.—
Armond White,
National Review,
18 Apr. 2025
-
Fifteen years after her husband’s drowning in the nearby bay, Tressilian’s days are spent in a cranky routine: grumbling over the obscene resort stationed on the opposite bluff, reading London’s gossip columns, and summoning the household help with the insistent ringing of a bedroom call bell.—
Erik Morse,
Vogue,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The Europeans were enchanted by the expressive fluency that the New York critics had considered vulgar.—
David Denby,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2025
-
The chief spoke at the LAPD’s Police Commission weekly meeting Tuesday, a day after news broke that officers from the department’s recruitment and employment division had been unknowingly recorded making vulgar comments, including while talking about police applicants.—
Libor Jany,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Switching out a pump in a pit filled with raw sewage is nasty work.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
12 Apr. 2025
-
The bear is back and things may stay nasty for the rest of 2025.—
Brett Owens,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Tom Hardy stars in the neo-noir crime thriller as a corrupt detective named Walker, who shoots, punches, and drop-kicks his way through an entire criminal underworld to rescue the estranged son of dirty politician Lawrence Beaumont (Forest Whitaker).—
Mike Miller,
EW.com,
26 Apr. 2025
-
Viewers will remember that Sheppard showed up in the season premiere, when his investigation of a deadly biker gang intersected with the Organized Crime Control Bureau’s pursuit of a dirty trucking company.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Verdugo had one more at-bat, closing out the bottom of the eighth inning with a foul pop out off another reliever, Cole Sands.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Apr. 2025
-
The Pistons foul at one of the highest rates in the league, and both Brunson and Towns will get their share of points from the floor and foul line.—
Jay Ginsbach,
Forbes.com,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Aurangzeb imprisoned his ailing father in 1658 and defeated his brother the year after, before forcibly parading him in chains on a filthy elephant on the streets of Delhi.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
18 Apr. 2025
-
The network has ordered Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service, which will see the celebrity chef go undercover to rescue America’s filthiest restaurants.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
10 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Raunchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/raunchy. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share