bodice ripper

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A romantic novel, usually in a historical setting, with frank depictions of sexual activity, especially one in which the female protagonist is seduced; (by extension) a film, television programme, etc., featuring such activity.

Pronunciation

/ˈbɒdɪs ˌɹɪpə/ /ˈbɑdɪs ˌɹɪpɚ/ En-us-bodice-ripper.ogg

Word forms

bodice ripper bodice rippers bodiceripper bodice-ripper

Etymology

From the fact that the female protagonists in such novels would often have their bodices (blouses or corsets) removed with some force before sexual activity commenced.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.