sex worker

[ seks wur-ker ]

noun

1. a person employed in the sex industry, as a prostitute, pornographic film actor, stripper, nude model, or creator of sexually explicit online content.

sex worker

noun

1. a prostitute

Word History and Origins

Origin of sex worker¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Lynette White, who was a sex worker, was stabbed more than 50 times in a flat above a bookmakers on 14 February 1988.

From BBC

A hologram of a young sex worker haunts Amsterdam’s red light district.

From BBC

In the historic red-light district where she once lived and worked, the teenage sex worker’s digital presence reminds passers-by that her case is yet to be solved.

From BBC

In 1912, Johnson was arrested for crossing state lines with a white sex worker in his car and accused of violating the 1910 Mann Act, a racist law that was born from growing fears of “white slavery” across the nation.

From Slate

Though her name means “light and bright,” those two adjectives are hardly how anyone would describe Ani, Mikey Madison’s titular sex worker with a heart of gold in Sean Baker’s magnificent love story “Anora.”

From Salon

Related Words

• call girl
• escort
• hooker
• male prostitute
• prostitute