Word of the Day

Saturday, March 04, 2000

lascivious

\luh-SIV-ee-uhs\ , adjective;

Lewd; lustful.

Tending to arouse sexual desires.

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Quotes:

Irwin, wearing Groucho Marx glasses to which a false nose is attached, appears uncharacteristically as a lascivious fellow, the maitre d'hôtel who tries to move in on the girlfriend.

-- Vincent Canby, "Fool Moon", New York Times, October 30, 1995

Harry . . . volunteered with a lascivious leer, flirting as usual.

-- Jackie Collins, Thrill!

Bartholomew Fair was a byword for immorality and in 1697 the lord mayor had published an ordinance against 'obscene, lascivious and scandalous plays, comedies and farces, unlawful games and interludes, drunkenness, etc'.

-- Jenny Uglow, Hogarth: A Life and a World

Origin:

Lascivious comes from Late Latin lasciviosus, from Latin lascivia, "wantonness, lust, playfulness" from lascivus, "wanton, sportful, playful."