raunchy

adjective

raun·​chy ˈrȯn-chē 

ˈrän-

raunchier; raunchiest

1

: slovenly, dirty

a raunchy panhandler

also : very smelly

raunchy sneakers

2

: obscene, smutty

raunchy jokes

raunchily

ˈrȯn-chə-lē 

ˈrän-

adverb

raunchiness

ˈrȯn-chē-nəs 

ˈrän-

noun

Synonyms

• bawdy
• blue
• coarse
• crude
• dirty
• filthy
• foul
• gross
• gutter
• impure
• indecent
• lascivious
• lewd
• locker-room
• nasty
• obscene
• pornographic
• porny
• profane
• ribald
• smutty
• stag
• trashy
• unprintable
• vulgar
• wanton
• X-rated

Examples of raunchy in a Sentence

inappropriately used office e-mail for an exchange of raunchy jokes

Recent Examples on the Web

McKinnon played Colleen Rafferty, a woman with raunchy stories of her encounters with aliens and Streep played the character’s mother, who has had her own alien encounters. —Lisa Respers France, CNN, 12 Mar. 2025

For the anniversary special, Streep played Colleen Rafferty Sr., the equally unfiltered mother who also had raunchy run-ins with extraterrestrials. —Terry Dickerson, NBC News, 12 Mar. 2025

Public perception proves to be a regular hurdle, too, with his marketing chief Maya (Kathryn Hahn) shouting raunchy demands to make putting butts in seats that much easier. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 7 Mar. 2025

The recurring sketch finds McKinnon often having her co-stars break by playing Colleen Rafferty, who describes her raunchy encounters with aliens while smoking a cigarette. —Zack Sharf, Variety, 11 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for raunchy

• bronchi
• bianchi