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lewd - 5 dictionary results

lewd

  [lood]
Use lewd in a Sentence
–adjective -er, -est.
1. inclined to, characterized by, or inciting to lust or lechery; lascivious.
2. obscene or indecent, as language or songs; salacious.
3. Obsolete.
a. low, ignorant, or vulgar.
b. base, vile, or wicked, esp. of a person.
c. bad, worthless, or poor, esp. of a thing.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME leud, lewed, OE lǣwede lay, unlearned

Related forms:
lewdly, adverb
lewdness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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lewd   (lōōd)   
adj.   lewd·er, lewd·est
    1. Preoccupied with sex and sexual desire; lustful.
    2. Obscene; indecent.
  2. Obsolete Wicked.

[Middle English leued, unlearned, lay, lascivious, from Old English lǣwede, ignorant, lay.]
lewd'ly adv., lewd'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Lewd

Lewd\ (l[=u]d), a. [Compar. Lewder (-[~e]r); superl. Lewdest.] [OE. lewed, lewd, lay, ignorant, vile, AS. l[=ae]wed laical, belonging to the laity.]

1. Not clerical; laic; laical; hence, unlearned; simple. [Obs.]

For if a priest be foul, on whom we trust, No wonder is a lewed man to rust. --Chaucer.

So these great clerks their little wisdom show To mock the lewd, as learn'd in this as they. --Sir. J. Davies.

2. Belonging to the lower classes, or the rabble; idle and lawless; bad; vicious. [Archaic] --Chaucer.

But the Jews, which believed not, . . . took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, . . . and assaulted the house of Jason. --Acts xvii. 5.

Too lewd to work, and ready for any kind of mischief. --Southey.

3. Given to the promiscuous indulgence of lust; dissolute; lustful; libidinous. --Dryden.

4. Suiting, or proceeding from, lustfulness; involving unlawful sexual desire; as, lewd thoughts, conduct, or language.

Syn: Lustful; libidinous; licentious; profligate; dissolute; sensual; unchaste; impure; lascivious; lecherous; rakish; debauched. -- Lewd"ly, adv. -- Lewd"ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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lewd 
O.E. læwede "nonclerical," of uncertain origin but probably ult. from V.L. *laigo-, from L. laicus (see lay (adj.)). Sense of "unlettered, uneducated" (1225) descended to "coarse, vile, lustful" by 1386.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: lewd
Pronunciation: 'lüd
Function: adjective
: involving or being sexual conduct that is considered indecent or offensive : LICENTIOUS lewd and lascivious assault upon a child —National Law Journal> —lewd·ly adverb —lewd·ness noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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