pornographic

/,pɔ:nə'græfik/
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Definition
  1. 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
  1. designed to arouse lust
    • pornographic films and magazines
    • adult movies