bodice ripper

See also: bodice-ripper

English

Alternative forms

• bodice-ripper
• bodiceripper (rare)

Etymology

From bodice and rip (1978).

Noun

bodice ripper (plural bodice rippers)

1. (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

• bonkbuster
• chick lit

References

• “bodice-ripper”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.