Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Lacking moral restraint, especially in sexual conduct: Describes a person or behavior that shows a disregard for accepted rules or standards of morality, particularly regarding sexual activity.
   • Ignoring accepted rules or conventions: Can also describe a more general attitude of lawlessness or disregard for normal constraints, though this usage is less common.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The novel was banned for its licentious content.
  • He led a licentious lifestyle, ignoring the social conventions of his time.
  • The ruler's licentious court was notorious for its debauchery.

Advanced Usage

• "Licentiousness" (noun): The quality or state of being licentious.
  • The play was criticized for its licentiousness.
• In a literary/archaic context: Can describe writing that ignores formal rules.
  • The poet's licentious use of meter was controversial among purists.

Variants and Related Words

• Licentiousness (n): The state or quality of being licentious.
• Libertine (n/adj): A person, often a man, who behaves without moral principles or a sense of responsibility, especially in sexual matters; synonymous in spirit with 'licentious'.

Synonyms

• Debauched: Indulging in or characterized by excessive sensual pleasures.
• Dissolute: Overindulging in sensual pleasures.
• Lascivious: Feeling or revealing an overt and often offensive sexual desire.
• Lewd: Crude and offensive in a sexual way.
• Wanton (archaic/literary): (Of a person) sexually unrestrained.

Antonyms

• Chaste: Abstaining from extramarital, or from all, sexual intercourse.
• Virtuous: Having or showing high moral standards.
• Prudish: Very easily shocked by things relating to sex or nudity.
• Restrained: Characterized by reserve or moderation.

Idioms and Phrases

• While there are no common idioms using the exact word "licentious," the concept is often expressed in phrases like "a life of license" or "moral abandon," which convey a similar meaning of excessive freedom from restraint.

Adjective

1. lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained
   • coarse and licentious men