as in prostitution
the practice of engaging in sexual activities for money
a city that in biblical times was infamous for licentiousness and harlotry
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Recent Examples of harlotry
In one case, the life of an upper-class woman and contemporary of Julius Caesar, Clodia, saw her reputation destroyed by false claims of harlotry, home-wrecking, and husband-killing.
—
Time, 24 Nov. 2025
Within the slippery world of harlotry—where class can be transcended and humanity bought—relationships form that defy our historical assumptions about the bounded categories of human experience.
—Sarah Marshall, New Republic, 2 June 2017
That's how my job eventually descended into harlotry: through the endless cat-and-mouse game of porntrepreneurs subverting Google's anti-smut policies.
—Lucas Peterson, GQ, 22 May 2017
Time, 24 Nov. 2025
Within the slippery world of harlotry—where class can be transcended and humanity bought—relationships form that defy our historical assumptions about the bounded categories of human experience.
—Sarah Marshall, New Republic, 2 June 2017
That's how my job eventually descended into harlotry: through the endless cat-and-mouse game of porntrepreneurs subverting Google's anti-smut policies.
—Lucas Peterson, GQ, 22 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harlotry
prostitution
Noun
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An analysis of the files suggests Wolfe spoke with Epstein multiple times between 2009 and 2014, after the financier’s conviction for solicitation of prostitution from a girl below age 18 in June 2008.—
Dan Vergano,
Scientific American,
5 Feb. 2026
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Epstein served jail time, having been convicted in 2008 of soliciting a minor for prostitution, although the true scale of his crimes did not start to emerge until 2015.—
Nick Duffy,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harlotry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harlotry. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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