candaulism
/ˌkænˈdɑl.ɪ.zəm/
candaulism · noun — A paraphilia, sexual practice, or fantasy in which a man exposes his female partner, or images of her, to other people for their voyeuristic pleasure. It carries an Arena rating of 1334, earned across 68 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, candaulism ranks #21 of 17,146 for Most Storied Words, #170 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #342 of 17,171 for Scariest Words, #349 of 17,160 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
candaulism is pronounced /ˌkænˈdɑl.ɪ.zəm/.
Why “candaulism” is a great word
CANDAULISM — [Noun] A paraphilia in which a man derives sexual pleasure from exposing his female partner, or images of her, to the voyeuristic gaze of others. From Candaules (a king of Lydia) + -ism, from an account in The Histories of Herodotus in which King Candaules plotted to show his naked wife to his servant Gyges. Unlike voyeurism (which denotes the secret pleasure of watching) or cuckolding (which hinges on a partner's infidelity), candaulism fixates on the deliberate, curated staging of one's own partner as a spectacle. It is the ancient king at the bedchamber door, the photograph left deliberately in view, the whispered permission for a stranger's look—a performance where intimacy is not shared but merely reflected, revealing that to possess something completely is sometimes to hold it out for others to see.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Candaul(es) (“a king of Lydia”) + -ism, from an account in The Histories of Herodotus in which King Candaules conceived a plot to show his naked and unaware wife to his servant Gyges.
noun
- A paraphilia, sexual practice, or fantasy in which a man exposes his female partner, or images of her, to other people for their voyeuristic pleasure.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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