Meaning & use
harlot
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableold-fashionedliterarydisapprovingoffensive
An old-fashioned insulting word for a woman who has sex for money; modern neutral choices include sex worker or prostitute.
Grammar: Takes an or the and has plural harlots; today it mainly signals an archaic, insulting style.
Patterns
- call someone a harlot
- an archaic word for a harlot
- the harlot in the pamphlet
The glossary labels harlot as an insulting old term for a sex worker.
In historical dialogue only, a sneering character might call a woman a harlot.
Word forms
| plural | harlots |
|---|
Common combinations
- call someone a harlot
- The court record shows how easily men called an unpopular woman a harlot.
- painted harlot
- The cliché painted harlot now sounds melodramatic rather than descriptive.
- old word for a harlot
- Editors usually replace the old word for a harlot with a neutral modern term.
Synonyms and how they differ
- prostitute
- Prostitute is the direct modern equivalent, but it can still sound clinical or blunt depending on context.
- sex worker
- Sex worker is the neutral current term and avoids the moral insult carried by harlot.
- courtesan
- Courtesan suggests a wealthy or high-status mistress in history, not simply payment for sex.
- strumpet
- Strumpet is similarly archaic and mocking, but often lighter or more theatrical than harlot.
Word family
- harlotry noun
- An archaic noun for prostitution or the state of being a harlot; rare and disapproving.
Practice
The 1600s pamphlet sneers at a woman as a ___; a modern editor would usually prefer a neutral term.
Choose one answer.
Harlot matches the archaic insulting sneer. Prostitute is modern and more neutral, courtesan implies a different historical role, and neighbor is unrelated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “harlot”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.