whore

¹

[ hawr ]

noun

1. a person who engages in sex acts for money; prostitute.
2. Disparaging and Offensive. a person who is sexually promiscuous.
3. a person who sacrifices personal principles or uses someone or something in a base or unworthy manner, usually for money:

   a greedy publicity whore.

verb (used without object)

, whored, whor·ing.

1. to act as a whore.
2. to consort with whores.
3. to seek after something that is base or unworthy:

   those who practice idolatry and whore after other gods.

verb (used with object)

, whored, whor·ing.

1. to put to a base or unworthy use (sometimes followed by out ):

   He’s whoring out his skills by writing for popular magazines.

2. Obsolete. to make a whore of; corrupt; debauch.

who're

²

[ hoo-er ]

1. contraction of who are:

   Who're the people at the next table?

whore

/ hɔː /

noun

1. a prostitute or promiscuous woman: often a term of abuse

verb

1. to be or act as a prostitute
2. (of a man) to have promiscuous sexual relations, esp with prostitutes
3. often foll by after to seek that which is immoral, idolatrous, etc

Usage Note

See contraction.

Derived Forms

• ˈwhorishly, adverb
• ˈwhorishness, noun
• ˈwhorish, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of whore¹

First recorded before 1100; Middle English, Old English hōre; cognate with German Hure, Old Norse hōra; akin to Gothic hors “harlot,” Latin cārus “beloved; expensive”

Word History and Origins

Origin of whore¹

Old English hōre; related to Old Norse hōra, Old High German hvora, Latin carus dear

Related Words

• hustler
• slut
• tramp