incestuous

adjective

in·​ces·​tu·​ous in-ˈses-chə-wəs How to pronounce incestuous (audio)
-ˈsesh-
1
: constituting or involving incest
2
: guilty of incest
3
: excessively or improperly intimate or exclusive
"… mainstream fashion magazines have an incestuous relationship with advertisers, and that undermines integrity."Ike Ude
incestuously adverb
incestuousness noun

Examples of incestuous in a Sentence

There were rumors that the father and daughter had had an incestuous relationship.
Recent Examples on the Web Eight years later, Mackenzie wrote a memoir that exposed her decade-long incestuous relationship with her father, which led to splintering within the siblings’ relationships. Rebecca Aizin, Peoplemag, 23 Feb. 2024 An Austrian court on Thursday ordered the conditional transfer of 88-year-old incestuous rapist Josef Fritzl to a regular prison from a prison psychiatric unit, his lawyer told reporters after the hearing. Reuters, NBC News, 25 Jan. 2024 Investigators said in 2009, when Fritzl was 73, the incestuous killer burned his son's body in a furnace. Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 16 Jan. 2024 One of them was navigating the really complex story of what exactly happened in between typewriters and computers—the scary, meandering, incestuous world of teletypes, key punches, calculators, electric typewriters, terminals, and word processing machines. Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 3 Oct. 2023 When: May 16 (Part 1), June 13 (Part 2) Where: Netflix House Of The Dragon Season 2 Buckle up, because the incestuous, violent, fire-breathing Targaryens are back in Season 2 of House Of The Dragon. Olivia Truffaut-Wong, refinery29.com, 27 Dec. 2023 That’s the problem with working in a county that’s so incestuous and inbred. Adam Ferrise, cleveland, 21 May 2023 And even after all that, a diabolical twist revealing an incestuous romantic affair is perhaps the film’s most gut-wrenching provocation. Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2023 The two are playing the same tune but in different keys: Lister-Jones draws out the character’s incestuous overtones, while LuPone hits heavy notes of shame. Vulture, 13 June 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incestuous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1532, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of incestuous was in 1532

Dictionary Entries Near incestuous

Cite this Entry

“Incestuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incestuous. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

incestuous

adjective
in·​ces·​tu·​ous in-ˈses-chə-wəs How to pronounce incestuous (audio)
1
: being or involving incest
2
: guilty of incest
incestuously adverb

Medical Definition

incestuous

adjective
in·​ces·​tu·​ous in-ˈses(h)-chə-wəs How to pronounce incestuous (audio)
1
: constituting or involving incest
2
: of, relating to, or guilty of incest
infantile incestuous wishes of the Oedipus complex

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