bawdry

[ baw-dree ]

noun

1. Archaic. lewdness; obscenity; bawdiness.
2. Obsolete.
   1. the business of a prostitute.
   2. illicit intercourse; fornication.

bawdry

/ ˈbɔːdrɪ /

noun

1. archaic.
   obscene talk or language

Word History and Origins

Origin of bawdry¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, bawdry is from the Middle English word bawdery. See bawd, -ery

Example Sentences

We sought the Serjeant out; and Bono and I came across him sitting with white privates of the 14th, singing bawdry which I shall not repeat.

From Literature

Volumes which not many years after, when a new system of affairs had occurred to supplant this long-idolised “order of chivalry,” Roger Ascham plainly asserted only taught “open manslaughter and bold bawdry.”

From Project Gutenberg

The city of Bristol is but a great house of bawdry.”

From Project Gutenberg

I am sorry that Hamlet’s line to the Player, “He’s for a jig, or a tale of bawdry, or else he sleeps,” has been cut out.

From Project Gutenberg

Letters Swift wrote to his beloved "Stella" – Esther Johnson – and her companion, Rebecca Dingley, reveal in detail Swift's mixture of bawdry and baby talk.

From The Guardian