woman of loose morals; lewd woman
A derogatory term for a woman considered sexually immoral or promiscuous. Strongly pejorative and old-fashioned; not used in neutral modern speech.
She was called a lewd woman by the villagers and suffered greatly.
In Edo-period documents, the word 淫婦 is used to refer to courtesans.
Modern, neutral term for a female prostitute, unlike the archaic and derogatory 淫婦.
Literary or formal term for a prostitute; less pejorative than 淫婦 but still somewhat dated.
Standard kanji form for this word.
Variant kanji form using 婬 instead of 淫; less common.
Composed of 淫 (いん, 'lewd, obscene') and 婦 (ふ, 'woman, lady'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the compound has been used in classical Chinese and Japanese texts to denote a woman of loose morals or a prostitute.