ecdysiast
/ɛkˈdɪz.i.æst/
ƐKDꞮZ · i · æst (3 syllables)
English
Noun
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Definition
An erotic dancer who removes their clothes as a form of entertainment; a stripper.
Etymology
Coined by H. L. Mencken from ecdysis (“moulting”) (on the model of enthusiast etc.).
Example Sentences
- "I had never seen an ecdysiast before; toward the end she was wearing nothing but seven beads, four of them sweat."
- "However, the Queen of Ecdysiasts, Gypsy Rose Lee, was not amused. In a 1940 interview, she leveled her guns against Mencken: "Ecdysiast, he calls me! Why, the man... has been reading books! Dictionaries! We don't wear feathers and molt them off... What does he know about stripping?""
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