BAWDY
What does "BAWDY" mean?
Humorously coarse or indecent, especially about sex.
Meanings
- Dealing with sex in a comic, earthy, and unembarrassed way. The tavern scene is full of bawdy jokes the censors somehow missed.
- Coarse, lewd talk or writing, taken collectively. Chaucer slips a surprising amount of bawdy into his pilgrims' tales. literary
Word origin
From 'bawd', a keeper of a brothel (probably from Old French 'baude', bold or merry), plus the adjective ending '-y'; the sense slid from 'of a bawd' to 'lewdly funny'.
Remember it
BAWDY hides 'AWD' - think of a bold, AWDacious wink; the cheeky cousin of 'gaudy'.
A little poem
The joke walks in half-dressed and grins -
we blush, then laugh, and that's where mischief wins.
couplet
Wordplay
- What's the difference between bawdy and rude? About one good wink.
What it teaches
A laugh that admits the body is honest; only the prim mistake it for shame.
Quick facts
What does BAWDY mean?
Humorously coarse or indecent, especially about sex.
Is BAWDY a valid word?
Yes — BAWDY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is BAWDY?
BAWDY has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does BAWDY come from?
From 'bawd', a keeper of a brothel (probably from Old French 'baude', bold or merry), plus the adjective ending '-y'; the sense slid from 'of a bawd' to 'lewdly funny'.
What can BAWDY teach us?
A laugh that admits the body is honest; only the prim mistake it for shame.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.