bawdy

English

Etymology

bawd +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔːdi/
• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔdi/
• Rhymes: -ɔːdi

Adjective

bawdy (comparative bawdier or more bawdy, superlative bawdiest or most bawdy)

1. (obsolete) Soiled, dirty. [from 14th Century]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter V, in Le Morte Darthur, book VII:
     :

     whanne he had ouertaken the damoysel / anone she sayd what dost thow here / thou stynkest al of the kechyn / thy clothes ben bawdy of the greece and talowe that thou gaynest in kyng Arthurs kechyn

2. Obscene; filthy; unchaste. [from 15th Century]
3. (of language) Sexual in nature and usually meant to be humorous but considered rude.

Derived terms

• bawdily
• bawdiness
• bawdy house

Translations

obscene

• Bulgarian: неприличен (bg) (nepriličen), нецензурен (bg) (necenzuren)
• Finnish: rivo (fi)
• French: grivois (fr), paillard (fr)
• German: unanständig (de)
• Greek: αισχρός (el) m (aischrós), άσεμνος (el) m (ásemnos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingue:
• Maori: mōtekoteko
• Polish: sprośny (pl), obleśny (pl)
• Serbo-Croatian: nepristojan (sh) m, prost (sh) m
• Spanish: guarro (es) m, sucio (es) m, lascivo (es) m
• Swedish: oanständig (sv)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “bawdy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.