salacious

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /səˈleɪʃəs/ UK /səˈleɪʃəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
having or conveying undue or indecent sexual interest

The tabloid was full of salacious rumors about the actor.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · having or conveying undue... lewd lecherous lustful obscene prurient ribaldbawdy

Opposites

chaste decent modest prudish

Word family

Derived forms salaciouslysalaciousnesssalacity

Related forms salacity

Simplified etymology

Salacious entered English in the mid-17th century from Latin salax, a derivative of salire, “to leap.” Salax originally meant “fond of leaping,” but its use for stud animals led to the sense “lustful,” from which the English meaning “showing excessive interest in sexual matters” developed.

Etymology

From Latin salax (stem salac-) 'lustful', from salire ('to leap'), the metaphor being that of leaping or mounting, + the English suffix -ious.

salax Latin salire Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# salacious

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /səˈleɪʃəs/
**IPA (UK):** /səˈleɪʃəs/

## Meanings
1. having or conveying undue or indecent sexual interest

## Examples
- The tabloid was full of salacious rumors about the actor.

## Synonyms
- lewd
- lecherous
- lustful
- obscene
- prurient
- ribald
- bawdy

## Antonyms
- chaste
- decent
- modest
- prudish

## Derived Forms
- salaciously
- salaciousness
- salacity

## Related Forms
- salacity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: salax
- Root: salire

## Etymology
From Latin salax (stem salac-) 'lustful', from salire ('to leap'), the metaphor being that of leaping or mounting, + the English suffix -ious.

## AI Etymology
Salacious comes from Latin salax (stem salac-) 'lustful', from salire ('to leap'), the metaphor being that of leaping or mounting, + the English suffix -ious. The historical chain includes Latin salax and Latin salire. Older glosses in the chain include "lustful" and "to leap", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, salacious is best read as compound, suffixal formation, and borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "having or conveying undue or indecent sexual interest". English derivatives include salaciously, salaciousness, and salacity; related forms include salacity. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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