pornography

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)The explicit literary or visual depiction of sexual subject matter; any display of material of an erotic nature.

   “Many websites have a complete ban on pornography.”

   “1929, D. H. Lawrence, Pornography and Obscenity, pamphlet, republished in 1998, Michael Herbert (editor), D. H. Lawrence: Selected Critical Writings, Oxford University Press, page 294, What is pornography to one man is the laughter of genius to another.”

   “The dispute over pornography and censorship has split both liberals and feminists.”

   “In Chapter 3 we reviewed the various views about sexual offending, and noted that there is a paucity of research on the role of child pornography in adult sexual interest in children.”

2. (broadly, uncountable, usually)The depiction of (non-sexual) subject matter so that it elicits feelings analogous to erotic pleasure; any such depiction.

   “"It's true," Vanya now, "look at the forms of capitalist expression. Pornographies of love, erotic love, Christian love, boy-and-his-dog, pornographies of sunsets, pornographies of killing, and pornographies of deduction — ahh, that sigh when we guess the murderer — all these novels, these films and songs and they lull us with, they're approaches, more comfortable and less so, to that Absolute Comfort." A pause to allow Rudi a quick and sour grin, "The self-induced orgasm."”

3. (humorous, uncountable, usually)The graphic, detailed, often gratuitous depiction of something.

   “In The Four Pillars of Wisdom, he devotes a well-deserved chapter to the financial press and its weakness for "financial pornography"—lurid coverage of star money managers.”

verb

1. (transitive, uncommon)To turn into pornography.

   “Their very being is so pornographied by automated content filters that they are largely barred from sexual expression online.”

   “[JD] Vance also expressed concerns about the use of AI technology, adding that it was being used to fuel “hyper-pornographied slop”, sources at the meeting said.”