# pornography

Pronunciation: US say "por-NOG-ruh-fee" /pɔɹˈnɑ.ɡɹə.fi/; UK/AUS say "paw-NOG-ruh-fee" /pɔːˈnɒɡ.ɹə.fi/

## Noun

1. Writing, pictures, films, or other material that shows sex or sexual organs explicitly, made in order to arouse people sexually.
   - Simple: Pictures, videos or writing that show sex very openly and are made to make people sexually excited.
   - _The new law makes it a crime to show pornography to minors._
   - _Researchers surveyed teenagers about how often they come across pornography online._
2. A lingering, indulgent, or gratuitous display of a non-sexual subject, such as food, wealth, or suffering, meant to excite strong feelings.
   - Simple: Pictures or stories that show something like food or suffering in too much detail, just to excite people.
   - _The cooking show's endless slow-motion shots of melting cheese struck some reviewers as shameless food pornography._
   - _Cable news turned the storm into weather pornography, replaying the same flooded street every ten minutes._

## Origin

From French pornographie, from Ancient Greek pornográphos, 'one who writes about prostitutes', from pórnē, 'prostitute', + -graphos, 'writer, painter'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/pornography (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).