Word
porn
US/ˈpɔɹn/
UK/pˈɔːn/
Definitions
01pornography
n. short for pornography; pictures or videos of sexual acts.
n. an informal clipping of 'pornography' referring to sexually explicit media.
“The hotel's internet filter blocks all access to porn sites.”
“The legislation aims to restrict the access of minors to online porn without infringing upon the privacy of adult users.”
Informal
Usage
Uncountable when referring to the genre; occasionally countable in plural when referring to specific works.
Synonyms
02visually pleasing media
n. beautiful photos or videos of a specific subject, like food or nature, that are very satisfying to watch.
n. a metaphorical use referring to high-quality, stylised media that provides sensory or aesthetic gratification regarding a specific interest.
“I spent the whole evening looking at food porn on Instagram.”
“The documentary was essentially nature porn, featuring slow-motion shots of rare birds in the rainforest with no real scientific commentary.”
Informal · Humorous
Usage
Usually appears as the second element in a compound noun, such as 'food porn', 'earth porn', or 'property porn'.
Teaching tip
This sense is very common on social media to describe high-quality photography; it does not imply sexual content but uses the word for its 'addictive' or 'pleasurable' connotation.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“Focusing narrowly on porn risks exaggerating its influence while ignoring other powerful cultural forces shaping young people's understanding of relationships and sex.” “Experts share the signs to look out for if you are worried about your porn use, and how to seek help.” Etymology
Clipping of pornography. Attested from mid-20th century.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/porn