Word.ws English Dictionary

ribaldry

/ˈɹɪb.əl.dɹi/

ribaldry noun: joking or humorous language or behaviour used in a vulgar or lewd fashion.

Noun

ribaldry (countable and uncountable, plural ribaldries)

  1. Joking or humorous language or behaviour used in a vulgar or lewd fashion.
    • Playes are the nurseries of vice, the bawd, / That thorow the senses steales our hearts abroad, / Tainting our eares with obscæne bawdery, / Lascivious words, and wanton ribaulry.1629, Fra[ncis] Lenton, “Section XIV. The Young Gallant’s Whirlgig.”, in James Orchard Halliwell, editor, The Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, an Ancient Interlude. […], London: […] Shakespeare Society...
    • His jargon of slang was a continuous joy and surprise to them. His gestures, his strange poses, his frank ribaldry of tongue and principle fascinated them.1903 February, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Hygeia at the Solito”, in Everybody’s Magazine, volume VIII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: John Wanamaker, →ISSN, page 175, column 1

ribaldry meaning in Urdu

ribaldry in Urdu

بدگوئی, بےادبی, فحاشت, پھکڑ پن

Forms of ribaldry

pluralribaldries

Origin of ribaldry

From Middle English ribaldrie, from Old French ribaulderie, ribauderie, equivalent to ribald + -ry.

Questions about ribaldry

What does ribaldry mean?
Ribaldry means joking or humorous language or behaviour used in a vulgar or lewd fashion.
What is ribaldry in Urdu?
Ribaldry in Urdu is بدگوئی, بےادبی, فحاشت. See Ribaldry meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is ribaldry?
Ribaldry is a noun.
How do you pronounce ribaldry?
Ribaldry is pronounced /ˈɹɪb.əl.dɹi/ (US).
What is the plural of ribaldry?
The plural of ribaldry is ribaldries.

Words near ribaldry in the dictionary

  1. ribaldo
  2. ribaldos
  3. ribaldous
  4. ribaldries
  5. ribaldrous
  6. ribaldry
  7. ribalds
  8. ribalinine
  9. riband
  10. riband jasper
  11. riband jaspers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ribaldry (page history and authors); ribaldry (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Neøn-ribaldry.wav.

Cite this entry: “ribaldry.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ribaldry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.