prostitute

noun

Any person (especially a woman) who has sexual intercourse or engages in other sexual activity for payment, especially as a means of livelihood.

A woman who has sexual intercourse or engages in other sexual activity for payment, especially as a means of livelihood.

A person who does, or offers to do, a demeaning or dishonourable activity for money or personal gain; someone who acts in a dishonourable way for personal advantage.

verb

(transitive, reflexive) To offer (oneself or someone else) for sexual activity in exchange for money.

(transitive, derogatory) To sacrifice (oneself, one's talents etc.) in return for profit or other advantage; to exploit for base purposes.

adjective

Taking part in promiscuous sexual activity, licentious; (later, chiefly as attributive use of noun) that is a prostitute.

(obsolete) Debased, corrupt; seeking personal gain by dishonourable means.

(obsolete) Exposed, subjected (to something shameful).

Roots

propro- · Latin · forth, forward statuo-stit · Latin · set up

Synonyms for prostitute

whoren harlotn bawdn streetwalkern hookern strumpetn cocotten trull courtesann trollopn hetaera pimpn whorishadj hustlern

Synonyms & related words for prostitute

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of prostitute — including whore, harlot, bawd, streetwalker, hooker, strumpet. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to prostitute

Explore words related to prostitute — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include demimondaine, floozy, prostitution, whoreish, whoremaster, harlotry, procuress, slut. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for prostitute

Common synonyms for prostitute include whore, harlot, bawd, streetwalker, hooker, strumpet, cocotte, trull — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does prostitute come from?

The word prostitute breaks down into 2 roots of Latin origin: pro-, from Latin pro (“forth, forward”); and -stit, from Latin statuo (“set up”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.