English

Front cover of a pornographic video.

Noun

pornography ‎(usually uncountable, plural pornographies)

1. The explicit depiction of sexual subject matter; a display of material of an erotic nature. [from the mid-19th c.]
   • "What is pornography to one man, is the laughter of genius to another." by D.H. Lawrence as cited on page 10's "Confining the Pornography Dragon" by The Cambridge Law Journal in issue 1980.

   Was the pornography hetero or gay?

2. (usually humorous) The graphic, detailed, often gratuitous depiction of something.
   • In The Four Pillars of Wisdom, he devotes a well-deserved chapter to the financial press and its weakness for "financial pornography"—lurid coverage of star money managers. (Seattle Times, August 4, 2002)

Translations

Derived terms

See also

• hardcore
• softcore
• blue, XXX, X-rated, lascivious, adult

Scots

Etymology

From English pornography.

Noun

pornography ‎(uncountable)

1. pornography