licentious
/laɪˈsɛn.ʃəs/adjective
licentious is spelled L-I-C-E-N-T-I-O-U-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 87,317th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, licentious means “Lacking restraint, or ignoring societal standards, particularly in sexual conduct; sexually unprincipled” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in licentious?
| Letters | 10: L-I-C-E-N-T-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 87,317th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is licentious?
Licentious appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 87,317th 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 licentious?
- /laɪˈsɛn.ʃəs/
Licentious has 3 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-licentious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of licentious
- more licentious comparative
- most licentious superlative
- licentuous
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does licentious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lacking restraint, or ignoring societal standards, particularly in sexual conduct; sexually unprincipled.
- 2
Disregarding accepted rules.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Licentious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | voluptueux, leste, libertin, polisson , licencieux |
| German | hemmungslos, zügellos, unzüchtig, ausschweifend , regellos, willkürlich |
| Portuguese | licencioso, libertino, devasso, impudico, lascivo, libidinoso |
| Spanish | licencioso, disoluto |
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 licentious come from?
From Latin licentiōsus, from licentia (“license, freedom”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).