Harlot
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 A female prostitute. dated, derogatory, offensive
"This day (great Duke) ſhe ſhut the doores vpon me, / While she with Harlots feaſted in my housſe."
- 2 a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money wordnet
- 3 A female who is considered promiscuous. derogatory, offensive
- 4 A churl; a common man; a person, male or female, of low birth, especially one given to low conduct. obsolete
"By suche ydle and wicked harlottes the enheritaunce of Christe is troden vnder fote."
- 1 To play the harlot; to practice lewdness.
"[…] they that spend their youth in loitering, bezzling, and harlotting, their studies in unprofitable questions, and barbarous sophistry"
- 1 Wanton; lewd; low; base. uncommon
"The intellection in it, kiddo—the intellection.... That most harlot of harlots... talking of me, laughing at me... I'll kill her...."
Example
More examples"Every Harlot was a Virgin once."
Etymology
From Middle English harlot, from Old French harlot, herlot, arlot (“vagabond; tramp”), of obscure origin. Likely to be ultimately of Germanic origin, either from a derivation of *harjaz (“army; camp; warrior; military leader”) or from a diminutive of *karilaz (“man; fellow”). Compare English carlot.
Related phrases
More for "harlot"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.