1
as in pornographic
dealing in or with explicitly sexual material
for his comedy-club performances the stand-up comic's routines are definitely X-rated
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in obscene
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
the jerk should have known better than to tell an X-rated joke at a company function
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of X-rated
The content of its productions has included legitimate theater, vaudeville, burlesque, striptease, movies (many X-rated), classical music and jazz as well as occasional forays into boxing, bodybuilding and politics.
—
Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2025
For the first seven years of the rating system (1969-1975), nearly half of the top films (33 of 70) were R- or X-rated.
—Tom Brueggemann, IndieWire, 26 July 2024
What audiences see are silhouettes engaged in a shadow play of entwined hands and arched backs, sensual but not X-rated.
—Rebecca Ritzel, Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2024
Granted, none of these are X-rated, but one of my concerns is that the intensity of this online relationship has grown quite exponentially in a very short time and could very well lead to actual X-rated.
—Amy Dickinson, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2024
Keep the red boost light on with your right foot and the Riviera will eventually peak out at 105 mph, although the speedometer is X-rated above 85.
—Don Sherman, Car and Driver, 8 Mar. 2023
Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2025
For the first seven years of the rating system (1969-1975), nearly half of the top films (33 of 70) were R- or X-rated.
—Tom Brueggemann, IndieWire, 26 July 2024
What audiences see are silhouettes engaged in a shadow play of entwined hands and arched backs, sensual but not X-rated.
—Rebecca Ritzel, Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2024
Granted, none of these are X-rated, but one of my concerns is that the intensity of this online relationship has grown quite exponentially in a very short time and could very well lead to actual X-rated.
—Amy Dickinson, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2024
Keep the red boost light on with your right foot and the Riviera will eventually peak out at 105 mph, although the speedometer is X-rated above 85.
—Don Sherman, Car and Driver, 8 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for X-rated
Adjective
-
Brazil requires supervision and restricts the infinite scroll A Brazilian law that seeks to shield minors from addictive, violent and pornographic online content took effect this month, with experts calling it a milestone in the protection of children and adolescents.—
Barbara Ortutay,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
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More than 100 students and parents from Lancaster Country Day School were in court to hear victims describe the shock of having to identify their own faces in pornographic photos to detectives.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The legislation would require social media platforms to estimate the age of users and exclude obscene content to children 16 years old or younger.—
Angela Palermo,
Idaho Statesman,
2 Apr. 2026
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The use of obscene or indecent clothing or signs will result in expulsion.—
Ed Masley,
AZCentral.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
It is estimated that, based on measures of blood glucose, lipids, and other parameters, less than 12% of the adult American population can even be said to metabolically healthy.—
Christopher Duggan,
STAT,
27 Mar. 2026
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For many readers and critics, the perception was that Mansfield was almost writing children’s fiction, since most of her stories are deceptively easy to read, although her themes are entirely adult in both form and content.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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One day, Dahlstrom made a vulgar joke in a lunchroom referencing oral sex and pubic hair, according to the employee.—
Nick Ferraro,
Twin Cities,
4 Apr. 2026
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Doncic claimed Bitadze directed a vulgar comment about Doncic’s family in Serbian toward the Lakers star guard.—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Through a red chain-link curtain is a back room containing the likes of Screw, Al Goldstein’s erotic tabloid from the sixties and seventies.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
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An easy comparison with the version available concurrently on PPOV showed the omission of Sidney Sweeney’s partial nudity in the steamy scenes that helped turn Paul Feig’s rebooting of the 1990s erotic thriller into one of the year’s megahits.—
Gustavo Turner,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“X-rated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/X-rated. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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