What does pornography mean?

Definitions for pornography
pornog·ra·phy

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word pornography.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. pornography, porno, porn, erotica, smutnoun

    creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire

GCIDE

  1. Pornographynoun

    obscene pictures, writings, drawings, motion pictures, videos, or the like intended primarily to cause sexual arousal and having little or no artistic merit; also, the content of such materials.

Wiktionary

  1. pornographynoun

    The explicit depiction of sexual subject matter; a display of material of an erotic nature.

  2. pornographynoun

    The graphic, detailed, often gratuitous depiction of something.

  3. Etymology: From πορνογράφος, from πόρνη + γράφω.

Wikipedia

  1. Pornography

    Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults, pornography is presented in a variety of media, including magazines, art, literature, photography, audio, film, animation, and video games. A distinction is often made as to whether to classify adult content as pornography or erotica.Throughout the history of erotic depictions, various groups within society have considered them to be noxious, and made attempts to have them suppressed under obscenity laws, censored, or made illegal. Such grounds—and even the definition of pornography—have differed in various historical, cultural, and national contexts. In the late 19th century, a film by Thomas Edison which depicted a kiss was denounced as obscene in the United States, while Eugène Pirou's 1896 film Bedtime for the Bride was received very favorably in France. Starting from the mid-twentieth century, societal attitudes towards sexuality have become more lenient in the Western world, and legal definitions of obscenity made limited. In 1969, Blue Movie by Andy Warhol became the first film to depict unsimulated sex and receive a wide theatrical release in the United States. This was followed by the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984), a time period when many high quality pornographic films played in theaters and became part of popular culture. The introduction of home video and the Internet in the late 20th century led to worldwide growth in the pornography business, generating billions of dollars annually. In 2001, commercialized pornography in the United States accounted for over US$2.5 billion, this included the costs for production of various media, and associated products and services. In 2006, the worldwide revenue from pornography was estimated at 97 billion dollars, with the U.S. estimates at around $10–$12 billion. In 2018, pornography in Japan was estimated to be worth over $20 billion.The industry in the U.S. employs thousands of performers along with production and support staff. It has its own industry publication, AVN; a trade association, the Free Speech Coalition; and an award show, the AVN Awards. Apart from coverage from mainstream press, the industry also receives considerable attention from private organizations, government agencies, and political organizations. In the 2020s, issues of popular pornographic sites hosting content by unscrupulous uploaders, and cybersex trafficking have been reported.

ChatGPT

  1. pornography

    Pornography refers to sexually explicit materials, including visual, audio, or written content, created to stimulate sexual arousal. It typically involves the depiction of sexual acts, nudity, and explicit sexual imagery. It is primarily designed to provoke sexual excitement, often without any artistic or educational intentions. It can be accessed through various media such as magazines, videos, websites, or streaming services.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Pornographynoun

    licentious painting or literature; especially, the painting anciently employed to decorate the walls of rooms devoted to bacchanalian orgies

  2. Pornographynoun

    a treatise on prostitutes, or prostitution

  3. Etymology: [Gr. a harlot + -graphy.]

Wikidata

  1. Pornography

    Pornography is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purpose of sexual gratification. Pornography may use a variety of media, including books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video, and video games. The term applies to the depiction of the act rather than the act itself, and so does not include live exhibitions like sex shows and striptease. A pornographic model poses for still photographs. A pornographic actor or porn star performs in pornographic films. If dramatic skills are not involved, a performer in porn films may be also be called a model. Pornography is often distinguished from erotica, which consists of the portrayal of sexuality with high-art aspirations, focusing also on feelings and emotions, while pornography involves the depiction of acts in a sensational manner, with the entire focus on the physical act, so as to arouse quick intense reactions. A distinction is also made between hardcore and softcore pornography. Softcore pornography can generally be described as focusing on nude modeling and suggestive, but not explicit, simulations of sexual intercourse, whereas hardcore pornography explicitly showcases penetrative intercourse.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of pornography in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of pornography in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of pornography in a Sentence

  1. Reality TV star Josh Duggar:

    I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife.

  2. Amanda Jones:

    These fringe groups capitalize on that lack of knowledge from everyday citizens, and they use rhetoric, like pornography and erotica to describe books, especially books around LGBTQ + themes and sexual health books that written by experts like the American Psychological Association, they are not interested in the truth.

  3. Andrea Dworkin:

    Romantic love, in pornography as in life, is the mythic celebration of female negation. For a woman, love is defined as her willingness to submit to her own annihilation. The proof of love is that she is willing to be destroyed by the one whom she loves, for his sake. For the woman, love is always self-sacrifice, the sacrifice of identity, will, and bodily integrity, in order to fulfill and redeem the masculinity of her lover.

  4. Susan Sontag:

    What pornography is really about, ultimately, isn't sex but death.

  5. Ketanji Brown Jackson:

    I guess my thought is…that there are people who get involved with this kind of activity who may not be pedophiles who may not be necessarily interested really in the child pornography but have other motivations with respect to the use of the technology and the being in the group and, you know, there are lots of reasons why people might engage in this, and so I’m wondering whether you could say that there is a -- that there could be a less-serious child pornography offender who is engaging in the type of conduct in the group experience level because their motivation is the challenge, or to use the technology?

Popularity rank by frequency of use

pornography#10000#11936#100000

Translations for pornography

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"pornography." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/pornography>.

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