orgasm means A spasm or sudden contraction. It carries an Arena rating of 1579, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, orgasm ranks #329 of 17,130 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #493 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,131 of 17,115 for Most Vivid Words, #2,252 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words.
orgasm is pronounced /ˈɔː.ɡæ.zəm/.
Why “orgasm” is a great word
The sudden, involuntary peak of sexual pleasure, a release of pent-up neuromuscular tension that culminates in muscular contractions and a temporary dissolution of conscious boundaries. From French orgasme or New Latin orgasmus, from Ancient Greek ὀργασμός (orgasmós, "excitement, swelling"), from ὀργάω (orgáō, "to swell with moisture")—a word that once described the rising sap of plants as much as the rising tide of human arousal. Unlike "climax" (which can crown any narrative arc, from a novel to a chess match) or "ejaculation" (which names merely the mechanical expulsion, the plumbing), orgasm is the full-bodied neurological event. It is the wave that breaks, the arch of a spine lifting from damp sheets, the silent cry caught in the throat—a private earthquake and a fleeting surrender, the body insisting on its own grammar when language has failed.
Etymology
From French orgasme or New Latin orgasmus, from Ancient Greek ὀργασμός (orgasmós, “excitement, swelling”), from ὀργάω (orgáō, “to swell with moisture”).
noun
- A spasm or sudden contraction.
- A rush of sexual excitement; now specifically, the climax or peak of sexual pleasure, which occurs during sexual activity and which in males may include ejaculation and in females vaginal contractions.e.g.“Never had I experienced such an immense slow orgasm – its ripples ran like the tributaries of the Nile throughout the whole nervous system.”
- A creamy white alcoholic cocktail containing amaretto, Irish cream, and coffee liqueur.
Words closest in meaning
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