salacious

adjective

sa·​la·​cious sə-ˈlā-shəs How to pronounce salacious (audio)
1
: arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination
salacious headlines
salacious lyrics
2
: lecherous, lustful
… have fiercely denounced the book's sketches of melodramatic lovers and salacious partygoers …Casey Greenfield
salaciously adverb
salaciousness noun

Examples of salacious in a Sentence

Lady Worsley's Whim, the story of Lady Worsley and her husband Sir Richard Worsley, is also reconstructed from some well-thumbed texts, in this case trial transcripts and newspaper reports of cases of "Criminal Conversation" which became popular eighteenth-century erotica. Charges … were brought by husbands seeking damages from the purported lovers of their supposedly adulterous wives, and the detail, which needed to be explicit, was frequently salacious. Norma Clarke, Times Literary Supplement, 21 Nov. 2008
From snarky political commentary to salacious "memoirs" that flirt with both fact and fiction, scores of bloggers have gotten the book deal boon—with mixed results at the register. Eunice Lee et al., Hyphen, Winter 2007
There's little difference between the junk mail in your mailbox and the junk e-mail that appears on your monitor, except that the e-mail is often of a salacious nature, e.g., the "hot, live XXX action" available at various dark alleyways on the web. Michael Saunders, Boston Globe, 6 Oct.1997
a song with salacious lyrics the salacious Greek god Pan is generally portrayed as having the legs, horns, and ears of a goat
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Known for its salacious drama as Manhattan's elite Upper East Siders navigate the fragile social hierarchy of high school and their own fluctuating relationships, Gossip Girl aired from 2007 to 2012 and made stars out of its main cast members, including Blake Lively and Penn Badgley. Rebecca Aizin, People.com, 2 Nov. 2024 The salacious series became a hit online, with certain scenes being turned into memes. Angela Yang, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2024 Not that the storms led to some irredeemable gaffe or unveiled some salacious scandal. Vox Staff, Vox, 24 Oct. 2024 Kelsey McKinney has received more than her fair share of salacious tips during her tenure as the host of Normal Gossip. Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for salacious 

Word History

Etymology

Latin salac-, salax, from salire to move spasmodically, leap — more at sally

First Known Use

circa 1645, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of salacious was circa 1645

Dictionary Entries Near salacious

Cite this Entry

“Salacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/salacious. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on salacious

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!