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prurience

prurience

1 9.9
A strong, improper interest in sex or sexual details
  • noun
  • /ˈprʊəriəns/
  • Offensive
translation icon : lascivia
  • The mode of literature known as "confessional" often provokes one of two unfair responses: smug dismissal or eagerness to profit from public prurience.

Examples

  • He wants to console her and protect her, tormented by the pity that invades his prurience.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • If there is prurience operating here, it would be homosexual, and its probability depends on more than the iconography of the male nude.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Masquerading as friendship, your prurience becomes doubly disgusting.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Her throat gleamed with sweat as she felt the great god star, his single-eyed prurience.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Perverse pubescent prurience is the bane of my existence.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • It seems to be the sexual implications of this violent attack that make the painting uneasy viewing for us, and in particular the mixture of prurience and piety.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which in Hebrew may be etymologically interpreted as the tree of sex, was envisaged as having been infused with passion and prurience by the snake.

    Academic text (1990)
  • "Until now, the marquis's wife has been an obstacle to his fantasy, but when her curiosity lures her into innocent prurience, she is projected into his fantasy.

    Academic text (1995)
  • I will presume that you would just as soon be spared the details of our intimacy, that you have been sated with the prurience-by-extension that American media life has popularized.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The magazine was criticized for its prurience and focus on sensational stories.

Synonyms

lust
vsprurience
  • NSFW
38 5.2

A very strong desire for something, often for things people see as forbidden

is focused on morbid curiosity not just intense craving
libido
vsprurience
  • NSFW
32 7.5

A person's desire to have sex

is an improper morbid interest rather than biological drive
sexual desire
vsprurience
  • NSFW
9 3.8

A strong wish to have sex with another person

is morbid preoccupation with sexual matters rather than desire
lechery
vsprurience
  • Offensive
4 9.6

Strong desire for sex and actions that offend other people

is a morbid interest in sexual topics rather than indulgence
concupiscence
vsprurience
  • NSFW
2 9.9

A strong sexual desire for another person

is morbid interest in sexual matters not just desire
carnality
vsprurience
  • NSFW
2 9.3

A strong interest in physical and sexual pleasure

is morbid sexual curiosity rather than general sensual focus
lasciviousness
vsprurience
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A strong sexual desire that many people find offensive

is more morbid and focused on improper curiosity
wantonness
vsprurience
  • NSFW
1 9.9

Sexual behaviour that many people find rude

is morbid interest in sexual matters rather than open immodesty
lustfulness
vsprurience
  • NSFW
1 7.2

A strong desire to have sex with someone

is an excessive improper interest rather than normal desire
pruriency
vsprurience
  • Offensive
9.9

An excessive interest in sex and sexual stories

is the same meaning in a variant spelling or form
lecherousness
vsprurience
  • Offensive
9.9

Strong sexual desire shown in an inappropriate way

is morbid curiosity about sexual matters rather than mere desire
lubricity
vsprurience
  • Offensive
9.9

Open sexual behavior that many people see as morally wrong

is morbid curiosity rather than judged immoral acts
libidinousness
vsprurience
  • NSFW
9.9

A strong desire to have sex

is a morbid curiosity beyond general sexual feeling
smuthound tendency
vsprurience
  • Offensive
9.9

A strong habit of enjoying sexual stories like magazines

is broader morbid interest not limited to media consumption
randiness
vsprurience
  • NSFW
9.1

A strong feeling of wanting to have sex

is a morbid interest rather than temporary arousal

Antonyms

100 3.5

Not knowing about the hard or bad parts of life

purity
  • Formal
34 3.9

The state of being without moral wrong or corruption

How Prurient

prurience
  • Offensive
1 9.9
lust
  • NSFW
84 3.4
sexual attraction
  • NSFW
5 3.2
indifference
71 4.6

Surface Forms

prurience singular
pruriences plural

Morphology

prurience = prurient (semi-transparent) = prurient + ence

The noun is a nominalization of the adjective 'prurient' with the suffix '-ence'; however both the adjective and the suffix are uncommon and may not be obvious to lower-level learners.

Etymology

Prurience comes from the Latin word prurire, which means 'to itch' or 'to long for', so you can picture it as an 'itch' for sexual things. That's why prurience means an excessive or unhealthy interest in sexual matters.