lewd
/ljuːd/adjective, noun, verb
lewd is spelled L-E-W-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, lewd means “Lascivious, sexually promiscuous, rude” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lewd?
| Letters | 4: L-E-W-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,651st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lewd?
Lewd appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lewd?
- /ljuːd/
- /luːd/
Lewd has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-lewd.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with lewd
Sounds like: leud (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with lewd?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as lewd.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: weld.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lewd
- lewder comparative
- lewdest superlative
- lewds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- lewding participle, present
- lewded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lewd mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lascivious, sexually promiscuous, rude.
- 2
obsoleteLay; not clerical.
- 3
obsoleteUneducated.
My ſcoles are not for unthriftes untaught, / For frantick faitours half mad and half ſtraught; / But my learning is of another degree / To taunt theim like liddrons, lewde as thei bee.
- 4
obsoleteVulgar, common; typical of the lower orders.
- 5
obsoleteBase, vile, reprehensible.
noun
- 1
A sexually suggestive image, particularly one which does not involve full nudity.
verb
- 1
slangTo express lust; to behave in a lewd manner.
- 2
slangTo sexualize a character, especially in a fan illustration.
- 3
slangAlternative form of lude (“take the drug quaalude”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lewd in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense lascivious:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | lascif, lubrique, paillard, grivois, obscène |
| German | lüstern, geil, lasziv |
| Portuguese | lascivo, indecente |
| Spanish | lascivo, lujurioso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lewd come from?
From Middle English lewed, lewd, leued (“unlearned, lay, lascivious”), from Old English lǣwede (“unlearned, ignorant, lay”), of uncertain origin. Formally similar to a derivative of the past participle of Old English lǣwan (“to reveal, betray”) in the sense of "exposed as being unlearned" or "easily betrayed, clueless", from Proto-West Germanic *lāwijan, from Proto-Germanic *lēwijaną (“to betray”), from *lēwą (“an opportunity, cause”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēw- (“to leave”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).