# prostitute

Pronunciation: US say "PROS-ti-toot" /ˈpɹɑːstətuːt/; UK say "PROS-ti-tyoot" /ˈpɹɒstɪtjuːt/

## Noun

1. A person, most often a woman, who engages in sexual activity for payment, especially as a way of earning a living.
   - Simple: Someone, usually a woman, who has sex with people for money, often as a job.
   - _Outreach workers hand out health information to prostitutes in the city's red-light district._
   - _In the novel, a young prostitute becomes the only witness to the crime._
4. A person who does, or offers to do, something demeaning or dishonorable for money or personal gain.
   - Simple: Someone who does shameful things just to get money or something else for themselves.
   - _To his former colleagues, he was a corporate prostitute who would argue any position for the right fee._
   - _Critics dismissed the hired reviewers as prostitutes churning out praise for whoever paid._

## Verb

2. To make oneself or another person sexually available for payment.
   - Simple: To offer yourself or another person for sex in return for money.
   - _In the novel, poverty drives a young widow to prostitute herself on the docks._
   - _The ring's leaders were convicted of prostituting women they had smuggled across the border._
3. To sacrifice oneself or one's talents for money or other advantage; to exploit something for unworthy ends.
   - Simple: To use yourself or your talent in a shameful way for money or other gain.
   - _Critics accused the director of prostituting his gifts on a string of forgettable sequels._
   - _Few scientists would prostitute their findings to please a corporate sponsor._

## Adjective

5. Sexually promiscuous or licentious; in later use, chiefly before a noun, working as a prostitute.
   - Simple: Having sex with many people, or, in newer use, being someone who sells sex.
   - _The study interviewed prostitute women about their safety on the street._
   - _Outreach workers offer free health checks to prostitute women working near the station._

## Adjective

6. Corrupt and degraded, willing to stoop to dishonorable methods for one's own advantage. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Dishonest, and willing to do wrong to get things for yourself.
7. Exposed or subjected to something shameful. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Open to something shameful, or forced to suffer it.

## Origin

Latin prōstituō was made from prō ("for, before") and statuō ("to set up, to erect"), and its past participle prōstitūtus is the source.

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