bodice ripper
See also: bodice-ripper
English
Alternative forms
- bodice-ripper
- bodiceripper (rare)
Etymology
Noun
bodice ripper (plural bodice rippers)
- (authorship) A sexually explicit romantic novel, usually in a historical setting, especially one involving the seduction of the heroine.
- 1978 February 8, Charitey Simmons, “Dizzying passion ruffles the pages of the 'hot' historical novel”, in Chicago Tribune[1], section 2, page 4:
- Publishers call them hot historicals as opposed to either the virginal variety Barbara Cartland writes or to the bodice rippers "because that's usually what happens to the heroines," Price explained.
- My aunt would bring a stack of torrid bodice rippers with her to the beach, and would unfailingly blush if disturbed in her reading.
See also
References
- “bodice-ripper”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.