Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Wednesday Word: Prurient


prurient |ˈproŏrēənt|adjectivehaving or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters : she'd been the subject of much prurient curiosity.DERIVATIVESprurience nounpruriency nounpruriently adverbORIGIN late 16th cent. (in the sense [having a mental itching] ): from Latin prurient- ‘itching, longing’ and[being wanton,] from the verb prurire.
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6 comments:

  1. ChrisJune 12, 2013 at 11:45 AM

    One I knew! :)

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    1. Lou HarperJune 12, 2013 at 12:06 PM

      I didn't, till recently. Despite its meaning prurient isn't a sexy word to my ears. Sounds too much like prudent.

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    2. ChrisJune 12, 2013 at 12:08 PM

      I always think it sounds too much like putrid...

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    3. Lou HarperJune 12, 2013 at 12:16 PM

      Putrid is a great word for what it means. Pheew-trid.

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  2. Clare LondonJune 13, 2013 at 5:10 AM

    I LOVE this word! Just never have the chance to use it :).

    It's also one where my initial reaction's the very opposite of its real meaning. Makes me think instinctively of prudish! It's like salubrious, which I have to think carefully about before using - it sounds seedy, but in fact means healthy LOL.

    I enjoy your word posts a lot! :)

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    1. Lou HarperJune 13, 2013 at 10:51 AM

      You're right about salubrious--it sounds too much like salacious. Imo, salubrious and prurient should switch meaning. I wonder if a petition to Merriam & Webster would do the trick.

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