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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Example Sentences
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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
-
Denver is experiencing slightly warmer than average temperatures for late January, but snow remains in the forecast.—
Jonathan Granoff,
Newsweek,
29 Jan. 2025
-
By integrating Italian fashion aesthetics with Chinese traditions, the film creates warm, relatable moments.—
WWD,
WWD,
29 Jan. 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
-
New Mexico emerged as the spiciest state, with 31.9 ounces per customer purchased on Instacart.—
Jonathan Granoff,
Newsweek,
29 Jan. 2025
-
From creamy dips to spicy wings to pigs in a blanket, all of these festive recipes are sure to crowdpleasers.—
Krissy Tiglias,
Southern Living,
28 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
So Far Layton’s contributions also include a playfully obscene drawing that Cohen faxed to her, the photograph of Ihlen used on the back cover of Cohen’s Songs from a Room, and the key to an entrance of Cohen’s apartment on the Greek island of Hydra.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
30 Jan. 2025
-
Following an extensive investigation, police said detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging 29-year-old Curtis Field of Vernon with disseminating obscene material to a minor.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
29 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
The goal of Troye and Charli’s austere, loud, lascivious evening is to take the sweet abandon of the club and scale it up to the arena.—
Jeremy D. Larson,
Pitchfork,
24 Sep. 2024
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
-
The autopsy revealed evidence that was suggestive, but nothing in the pathologist’s report, not even the shot in the left side of the head, could totally rule out suicide.—
Ariane Lange,
Sacramento Bee,
26 Jan. 2025
-
Zuckerberg has just recently emerged from his own masculinist makeover, which turned him from a pale coder to a buff and bronzed bro, and his openly suggestive glance at Sanchez’s exposed chest seemed like an appropriate capstone to Trump’s Inaugural Address.—
Naomi Fry,
The New Yorker,
25 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
King wrote the letter while spending several days in solitary confinement in a dark, filthy, jail cell with no mattress in Birmingham, Alabama.—
John Blake,
CNN,
19 Jan. 2025
-
The government soldiers left behind a filthy jumble of army life: clothes, blankets, gas masks and helmets, and empty tin cans.—
Carlotta Gall,
New York Times,
1 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Prurient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prurient. Accessed 10 Feb. 2025.
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