lecherous

Definition

Given to excessive sexual activity and debauchery.

Etymology

From Middle English lecherous, licherous, from Old French *lecherous (attested in Old French lecherousement (“lecherously”)), from Old French lecherie, licherie (“gluttony, sensuality, lewdness, lechery”), from Old French lecher, lechier, lekier, lescher (“to lick, live in gluttony or sensuality”), from Old Frankish *lekkōn, *likkōn (“to lick”), from Proto-Germanic *likkōną (“to lick”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”), equivalent to lecher + -ous. More at lick.

Example Sentences

• "Adam was a perfectly satisfactory dinner companion, if not a bit damp and blandly lecherous (he revealed he had looked at my Instagram before we met and “really liked the photos of me in a bathing suit.”) And now, standing on the street corner, it was unclear how I was going to walk away from this without an awkward shutdown."