as in warm
formal + usually disapproving
having or showing too much interest in sex
He took a prurient interest in their personal life. a book that appealed to the prurient curiosity of its readers
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Recent Examples of prurient
In the decades that followed, the media took a similarly prurient tack in its coverage of women’s competitive swimming.
—
Sophia Stewart, The Atlantic, 21 June 2024
But beyond it, Morgan sketches a real Manhattan ruled by prurient and destructive masculine appetites, from subway tunnels occupied by ad hoc homeless communities to office towers where the city’s most powerful residents impose their wills on millions of fellow New Yorkers.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 31 May 2024
That might also have had something to do with a male protagonist being less subject to the prurient aspects of Sorrentino’s gaze.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 May 2024
The common theme emerging from these politically conservative Marylanders is that Maryland public school librarians have nothing substantial to offer regarding the protection of young minds from prurient interests.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 18 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prurient 
Sophia Stewart, The Atlantic, 21 June 2024
But beyond it, Morgan sketches a real Manhattan ruled by prurient and destructive masculine appetites, from subway tunnels occupied by ad hoc homeless communities to office towers where the city’s most powerful residents impose their wills on millions of fellow New Yorkers.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 31 May 2024
That might also have had something to do with a male protagonist being less subject to the prurient aspects of Sorrentino’s gaze.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 May 2024
The common theme emerging from these politically conservative Marylanders is that Maryland public school librarians have nothing substantial to offer regarding the protection of young minds from prurient interests.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 18 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prurient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prurient
Adjective
-
It’s finished with red wood veneer, which adds a rustic and warm feel to the piece.—
Alicia Geigel,
Southern Living,
10 Feb. 2025
-
Grant was polite and warm, albeit confused about having an indoor life and this influx of love and care.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
9 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Most of my writing energy went into composing my vast unpublishable novels, one and then another.—
Andrew Cockburn,
Harper's Magazine,
22 Aug. 2024
-
Contemporary critics tend to breeze through the last two decades of Schwartz’s life, hitting only the saddest events: the second divorce; the increasing alcoholism; the unpublishable poems, many written during bouts of mania; the money problems; the undignified death.—
Maggie Doherty,
The New Yorker,
15 Apr. 2024
Adjective
-
Rye whiskey is the drier and spicier cousin of bourbon with an herbaceous edge, an edge which (as with the Sazerac, La Louisiane and others) is given a few dozen exclamation points with a dash of absinthe.—
Jason O'Bryan,
Robb Report,
8 Feb. 2025
-
Some perfumes smell pink and rosy, others are amber-hued and spicy, and some smell fresh and verdant—like a whiff of pale green.—
Jenny Berg,
Allure,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The high school student complainants said in the lawsuit that their families’ First Amendment rights have been violated by the law, which has a much broader definition of obscene material than the one defined by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973.—
Nicole Blanchard,
Idaho Statesman,
4 Feb. 2025
-
There might be behavioral symptoms that make someone cancel a flight at the last minute because of their panic or decide to take a train for an obscene number of hours to avoid flying.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN,
2 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Charles Williams, 26, is being held without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on several felony charges, including lewd and lascivious exhibition on a child, lewd and lascivious behavior and child molestation.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
5 Feb. 2025
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He was charged with seven counts of lewd and lascivious molestation against a child between 12 and 16 years old, three counts of offenses against students by authority figures, and three counts of lewd and lascivious behavior.—
Milena Malaver,
Miami Herald,
6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Orange Beach has a vulgarity ordinance on the books, which was enacted about a decade ago amid concerns about vulgar or indecent T-shirts and other merchandise sold at souvenir stores.—
al,
al,
20 Jan. 2023
-
Because there are more good people than indecent ones.—
Jack Irvin,
Peoplemag,
12 Jan. 2023
Adjective
-
Even the film’s basic exposition, showing Anna working in Klaus’s household and receiving her fateful instructions from Hansen, is richly suggestive of the turmoil vibrating beneath the orderly domestic surface.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
5 Feb. 2025
-
And yet, just of late, the stock is exhibiting characteristics suggestive of a bottom.—
Carter Braxton Worth,
CNBC,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
This was to help end the puppy mill industry, where dogs are bred en masse, leading them to be born and raised in filthy and neglected conditions.—
Andrew Sheeler,
Sacramento Bee,
12 Feb. 2025
-
The boys all came home, filthy and with unbrushed teeth.—
Marla Jo Fisher,
Orange County Register,
5 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Prurient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prurient. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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