What does harlotry mean?
Harlotry is a dated, chiefly literary and legal noun for prostitution, understood as the practice of providing sexual services for payment. In older usage it could carry the sense of a prostitute's trade and, especially in moral and religious writing, was presented as a social vice. The term often focused on women involved in commercial sex, but its basic definition does not require that restriction. Modern speakers are more likely to use prostitution, which is clearer and less loaded. In sentences, harlotry can refer both to the activity as a general practice and, more rarely, to a particular instance of it. The word is now uncommon outside historical, legal, and literary contexts, and its old-fashioned associations make it unsuitable for a neutral description of sex work or of a person's occupation. Even so, it remains useful when reading older texts because it signals the vocabulary and moral assumptions of the period rather than merely naming a transaction.
nounThe practice of prostitution, especially when regarded as a social vice or moral wrong.
- The practice of prostitution, especially when treated as a vice, moral disorder, or social evil.
"Victorian moralists frequently denounced harlotry while ignoring the exploitation on which it depended."
"The reformers described the district's harlotry as evidence of a wider collapse in public morality."
"The memoirist remembered her years of harlotry with bitterness and without sentimentality."
Harlotry is normally uncountable, but the rare plural harlotries may refer to separate instances or practices.
"The scholar contrasted the harlotries described in two nineteenth-century novels."
Harlot names a prostitute; harlotry names the practice. The blunt old-fashioned pair makes its moral judgement impossible to miss.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does harlotry come from?
Harlotry was formed in Middle English from harlot, an older word for a prostitute or sexually promiscuous woman, and the noun-forming suffix -try, denoting an activity or practice. The deeper origin of harlot is uncertain, although it is generally traced through Old French to a Germanic source. Related formations include harlotess and harlotize.
How harlotry is actually used
The term is now archaic, literary, or legal in tone and is often pejorative. It sometimes focuses on women involved in commercial sex, although its basic definition is not exclusively gendered. Prostitution is generally clearer and more neutral in modern usage.
Easily confused with harlotry
A harlot is a person described as a prostitute, whereas harlotry names the practice of prostitution.