as in prostitute
a woman who engages in sexual activities for money
in the 17th century the port was a notorious hangout for Caribbean pirates and their bawds
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Recent Examples of bawd
Lewd women, bawds and adventuresses were not welcome in courts, nor were prostitutes or immoral characters.
—
Clement Knox, Time, 4 Feb. 2020
Two rival madams—based on real historical characters—are fighting each other for a customer base: earthy bawd Mrs. Margaret Wells and elegant, conniving Mrs. Lydia Quigley.
—Viv Groskop, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2017
Clement Knox, Time, 4 Feb. 2020
Two rival madams—based on real historical characters—are fighting each other for a customer base: earthy bawd Mrs. Margaret Wells and elegant, conniving Mrs. Lydia Quigley.
—Viv Groskop, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bawd
Noun
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Many maintained contact with him even after his conviction in 2008 for soliciting a prostitute and procuring a child for prostitution in Florida.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
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The mothers were usually poor women or prostitutes, the children generally given up for adoption to orphanages, many of them run by foreign missionaries.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Well, yes, there were also hookers and tequila girls and whatever else was going on in those offices.—
Lacey Rose,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Nov. 2025
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Making the cut, however, is not enough for good ratings, and so the Network creates a fake new clickbait backstory for Richards, painting him as a deadbeat dad with a hooker for a wife.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bawd.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bawd. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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