Added 9 October 2026
lewd
/ljuːd/ adjective
In Latin: obscēnus, incestus, impudīcus Wiktionary
adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about lewd at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Suggestive of or tending to moral looseness.
lewd pictures
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Driven by lust; preoccupied with or exhibiting lustful desires.
libidinous orgies
Origin
From Middle English lewed, lewd, leued (“unlearned, lay, lascivious”), from Old English lǣwede (“unlearned, ignorant, lay”), of uncertain origin. Formally similar to a derivative of the past participle of Old English lǣwan (“to reveal, betray”) in the sense of "exposed as being unlearned" or "easily betrayed, clueless", from Proto-West Germanic *lāwijan, from Proto-Germanic *lēwijaną (“to betray”), from *lēwą (“an opportunity, cause”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēw- (“to leave”). If so, then cognate with Old High German gilāen, firlāen (“to betray”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galēwjan, “to give over, betray”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍅 (lēw, “an opportunity, cause”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)