Pedophile
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An adult or older adolescent who is sexually attracted to prepubescent children. US
"Apart from his sexual behavior, the pedophile is typically law abiding."
- 2 an adult who is sexually attracted to children wordnet
- 3 An adult who is sexually attracted to or engages in sexual acts with a child under the age of consent. US, broadly, derogatory
"Although the Holy See publicly expressed its rejection of sexual abuse and pedophilia and expressed its commitment to cooperate with civil authorities when cases of pedophile priests were found¹², there are no known cases of bishops or cardinals, being found responsible for abusing children or covering up for pedophilia in their parishes. […] These ecclesiastic norms were the basis of the behaviors displayed by the religious authorities of Mexico and other countries, in order to cover up for pedophiles and their crimes committed against many children for a long time and in many different places."
- 4 A consumer of lewd artwork of characters under the age of consent. US, broadly, derogatory, nonstandard
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"The pope is meeting victims of pedophile priests in London."
Etymology
From pedo- (“child”) + -phile, after Ancient Greek παιδοφῐ́λης (paidophĭ́lēs) (from παῖς (paîs, “boy, child”) + φιλέω (philéō, “to love”)).
Related phrases
More for "pedophile"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.