pleasure house
- noun
- /ˈplɛʒər haʊs/
- Offensive
:
burdel
- I did all I could to save the house... but the bank sold it to some fat, city slicker... and he turned it into a pleasure house.
Examples
-
That pleasure house, called Sadabat, is sometimes styled a kiosk, and sometimes a seraglio; others call it the Kiosk and Seraglio of Sadabat.
Academic text (2003) -
After a long week, he decided to visit the pleasure house to unwind and enjoy some adult entertainment.
-
The quiet village had a hidden pleasure house that was well-known for its lively parties and entertainment.
-
The local authorities kept a close watch on the pleasure house to ensure that everything was operating within the law.
Synonyms
42
7.8
A building where people pay to have sex with prostitutes
1
7.6
A building where people pay for sex
How Respectable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally built: a 'house' for 'pleasure' literally yields 'a place for pleasure/entertainment', a pattern English learners commonly recognize (cf. 'coffee house', 'opera house'). While specific illicit or sexual connotations may require cultural knowledge, a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the general meaning of a place providing pleasurable activities.
Etymology
The phrase pleasure house comes from the simple picture of a house where people went for pleasure. These places often had music, gambling, or paid sexual services, so the name came to mean a building for 'entertainment' or 'adult activities'.