harlot
Woman for hire
Harlot is an old-fashioned or literary word for a prostitute or promiscuous woman: She was denounced as a harlot.
The word carries strong moral condemnation and appears most often in religious texts, historical fiction, or deliberately archaic speech.
In modern usage it sounds theatrical or ironic rather than genuinely insulting.
One who sells sex
- courtesanPaid aristocratic companion
- strumpetPromiscuous woman, archaic
- trollopPromiscuous woman, derogatory
- wenchArchaic term for girl
jezebel · scarlet woman · fallen woman · woman of ill repute · lady of the night · loose woman · hussy · adulteress
Slur against promiscuity
- whoreSex worker
- skankPromiscuous or disreputable person
- slagIndustrial metalworking byproduct
- trampWandering homeless person
tart · ho · hoe · bitch · jezebel · strumpet · trollop · floozy
Violating moral law
- immoralContrary to ethical principles
- shamefulCausing or meriting disgrace
- disgraceLoss of honor
- scandalousMorally offensive or shocking
debauchery · sordid · lewdness · degenerate · corrupt · infamy · tawdry · sleazy
prostitute
One who sells sex
- courtesanPaid aristocratic companion
- strumpetPromiscuous woman, archaic
- trollopPromiscuous woman, derogatory
wench · jezebel · scarlet woman · fallen woman · woman of ill repute · lady of the night · loose woman · hussy · adulteress · temptress
slut
Slur against promiscuity
tramp · tart · ho · hoe · bitch · jezebel · strumpet · trollop · floozy · hussie
sinful
Violating moral law
scandalous · debauchery · sordid · lewdness · degenerate · corrupt · infamy · tawdry · sleazy · impure
- Victorianaseances, Dickens, spiritualism, Sherlock Holmes, phrenology
- femaleswoman, girl, lady, mother, daughter
- Biblical Englishthou, thee, thy, thine, ye
- gender stereotypesboys will be boys, pink for girls, blue for boys, man up, strong men
- old insultsknave, varlet, scoundrel, rogue, blackguard
- Shakespearean insultsknave, varlet, villain, rogue, scoundrel
harlotsaint
Canonized holy person
Madonna · Blessed Virgin · pure soul · angel
- harlequin patternRepeating colored diamond design