prostitute

/ˌprɑstəˈtut/

/ˈprɒstɪtut/

Other forms: prostitutes; prostituted; prostituting

A prostitute is someone who gets paid to have sex — the word usually refers to a woman, but there are male prostitutes as well.

These days a prostitute is often called a sex worker, and there are many slang words, such as hooker and whore, that mean the same thing. A prostitute works for a pimp and her customers are called johns. You could say a woman is prostituting herself, or that the pimp is prostituting her. Sometimes people who hate their jobs feel like they're prostituting themselves, even though no sex is involved.

Definitions of prostitute

1. noun

   a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money
   synonyms: bawd, cocotte, cyprian, fancy woman, harlot, lady of pleasure, sporting lady, tart, whore, woman of the street, working girl

   types:

   call girl

   a female prostitute who can be hired by telephone

   camp follower

   a prostitute who provides service to military personnel

   comfort woman, ianfu

   a woman forced into prostitution for Japanese servicemen during World War II

   demimondaine

   a woman whose sexual promiscuity places her outside respectable society

   floozie, floozy, hooker, hustler, slattern, street girl, streetwalker

   a prostitute who attracts customers by walking the streets

   white slave

   a woman sold into prostitution

   type of:

   adult female, woman

   an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
2. verb

   sell one's body; exchange sex for money
   types:

   street-walk, streetwalk

   walk the streets in search of customers

   type of:

   sell

   exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent