Pervy

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Marked by an undue fascination with sexual topics or behaviors that are deemed improper or lascivious
2. Referring to attitudes or actions that reflect an obsessive interest in erotic or sexually suggestive content, often viewed as distasteful
3. Characterized by inappropriate or excessive interest in sexual matters that others may find offensive or objectionable

Etymology: "Pervy" is simply "perv" with the adjective-forming suffix "-y" attached. The "-y" ending, which turns a noun into a description of something having the quality of that noun, has been part of English since Old English, when it was spelled "-iġ," and it has been used this way ever since, as in "sandy" or "gusty." Its history stretches back through Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European, but in practice the suffix is the familiar, productive ending that English speakers attach to nouns. The base word, "perv," is a clipped form of "pervert," so the adjective carries the sense of someone or something behaving like a pervert, that is, showing an excessive or improper interest in sexual matters. Because "perv" is itself informal and short, "pervy" is a casual, colloquial word, most at home in speech and in relaxed writing rather than formal prose.

Synonyms: lewd, lascivious, salacious, depraved, licentious

Antonyms: innocent, pure, chaste, decent, modest