Describes sexually improper or indecent behavior, speech, or content. Can be used for both people and things.
彼はみだらな冗談ばかり言う。
He always tells lewd jokes.
He was arrested for committing an indecent act in public.
その映画にはみだらなシーンが多すぎる。
That movie has too many obscene scenes.
He got drunk and started spouting obscene remarks.
She felt uncomfortable being looked at with lewd eyes.
エロい is casual slang for something sexy or erotic, whereas 淫ら carries a stronger tone of moral disapproval.
いやらしい describes a person's creepy or distasteful lewdness, while 淫ら more directly labels an act or content as sexually indecent.
下品 means vulgar or crude in a general sense, while 淫ら specifically points to sexual impropriety.
Standard kanji spelling.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji is considered difficult or overly formal.
Rarely used kanji form.
The historical derivation is uncertain. The kanji 淫 and 猥 both carry meanings related to indecency or excess, and are conventionally associated with this word.