adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈɹɪskeɪ/
Received-Pronunciation:/ɹɪsˈkeɪ/
Received-Pronunciation:/ɹiː-/following the French pronunciation
General-American:/ɹəˈskeɪ/
General-American:/ɹɪ-/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪ
1
adj
Meaning 1
Slightly sexually suggestive; bordering on indelicate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: raunchy, cheeky, suggestive, daring, naughty, near the knuckle, racy, rorty, saucy
Antonyms: unrisqué
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French risqué (“risky”), an adjective use of the past participle of risquer (“to put at risk; to risk”), from risque (“risk”, noun) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs). Risque is derived from Old Italian risco (“risk”) (modern Italian rischio), possibly a deverbal from resecare or from Vulgar Latin *resecum, both from Latin resecō (“to cut loose or off, etc.”), from re- (intensifying prefix) + secō (“to cut; to cut off”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut; to cut off, sever”)).
Across languages
Translations
25 source translations are retained for this English entry.
