bawdy

/ˈbɔdi/

Other forms: bawdiest; bawdier

Bawdy describes humor that is vulgar or off-color. Things that are bawdy are a little inappropriate, intended to be funny, and definitely not the kind of things you want to say in school.

Bawdy jokes are inappropriate, but they're not totally explicit or graphic — a movie with a little bit of bawdy humor might be rated PG-13, rather than R. Still, you probably don't want to recite bawdy poems in front of your fussy Aunt Irma, your clergyperson, or your math teacher. The exact etymology of this word is uncertain, but it is formed from the Middle English noun bawd, meaning "a lewd or licentious person."

Definitions of bawdy

1. adjective

   humorously vulgar
   “bawdy songs”

   synonyms: off-color, ribald

   dirty

   (of behavior or especially language) characterized by obscenity or indecency
2. noun

   lewd or obscene talk or writing
   “they published a collection of Elizabethan bawdy”

   synonyms: bawdry

   type of:

   dirty word, filth, obscenity, smut, vulgarism

   an offensive or indecent word or phrase