Lewd a. [Compar. Lewder superl. Lewdest.]
1. Not clerical; laic; laical; hence, unlearned; simple. [Obs.]
For if a priest be foul, on whom we trust,
No wonder is a lewed man to rust. --Chaucer.
So these great clerks their little wisdom show
To mock the lewd, as learn'd in this as they. --Sir. J. Davies.
2. Belonging to the lower classes, or the rabble; idle and lawless; bad; vicious. [Archaic]
But the Jews, which believed not, . . . took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, . . . and assaulted the house of Jason. --Acts xvii. 5.
Too lewd to work, and ready for any kind of mischief. --Southey.
3. Given to the promiscuous indulgence of lust; dissolute; lustful; libidinous.
4. Suiting, or proceeding from, lustfulness; involving unlawful sexual desire; as, lewd thoughts, conduct, or language.
Syn: -- Lustful; libidinous; licentious; profligate; dissolute; sensual; unchaste; impure; lascivious; lecherous; rakish; debauched.
-- Lewd*ly, adv. -- Lewd*ness, n.
◄ ►
lewd
adj 1: suggestive of or tending to moral looseness; "lewd
whisperings of a dirty old man"; "an indecent
gesture"; "obscene telephone calls"; "salacious
limericks" [syn: obscene, raunchy, salacious]
2: driven by lust; preoccupied with or exhibiting lustful
desires; "libidinous orgies" [syn: lascivious, libidinous,
lustful]