pornographic
/,pɔ:nə'græfik/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Designed to arouse sexual excitement or lust: Describes materials, such as images, videos, or texts, whose primary purpose is to stimulate sexual desire. This is the core and most common meaning.
- Explicitly depicting sexual activity: Characterizes content that shows sexual acts or nudity in a graphic and direct manner, typically without artistic, educational, or other non-sexual justification.
Usage
- The adjective pornographic is used to describe media, literature, or imagery.
- It is a formal and legal term, often used in contexts discussing censorship, law, media classification, or societal standards.
- It carries a strong negative connotation, implying the material is obscene or intended solely for sexual arousal.
Examples
- The court ruled that the material was pornographic and not protected as free speech.
- They seized a large quantity of pornographic magazines.
- The film was banned for its pornographic content.
- He was charged with distributing pornographic images online.
Advanced Usage
- "Pornographic violence": A metaphorical use describing extreme, gratuitous, and sensationalized depictions of violence, often in media, that are compared to pornography in their intent to shock or arouse base instincts.
- Some critics accused the war documentary of featuring pornographic violence.
Variants and Related Words
- Pornography (n): The collective term for pornographic material.
- The debate focused on the effects of online pornography.
- Pornographer (n): A person who produces or sells pornographic material.
Synonyms
- Obscene: Offensive or disgusting by accepted standards of morality and decency.
- Erotic: Relating to or tending to arouse sexual desire or excitement. (Note: can have a more artistic or less explicitly graphic connotation than ).
- Salacious: Having or conveying undue or inappropriate interest in sexual matters.
- X-rated: Formerly used as a classification for films with explicit adult content.
Antonyms
- Chaste: Not having any sexual nature; pure.
- Decent: Conforming with generally accepted standards of respectable or moral behavior.
- Wholesome: Conducive to or suggestive of good health and physical well-being; morally beneficial.
Related Idioms/Phrases
- "Pornographic detail": Used figuratively to describe an excessive, intrusive, and unnecessarily graphic level of detail about any subject, not just sex.
- The biography went into pornographic detail about the star's financial troubles.
Adjective
- designed to arouse lust
- pornographic films and magazines
- adult movies