luscious

adj

Etymology: From earlier lushious, lussyouse (“luscious, richly sweet, delicious”), a corruption of lustious, from lusty (“pleasant, delicious”) + -ous. Shakespeare uses both lush (short for lushious) and lusty in the same sense: "How lush and lusty the grass looks" (The Tempest ii. I.52). An alternative etymology connects luscious to a Middle English term: lucius, an alteration of licious, believed to be a shortening of delicious.

1. Sweet and pleasant; delicious; juicy, succulent.

   “Her lips were like two luscious beefsteaks.”

   “There were lovely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits.”

2. Sexually appealing; seductive.

   “With one hand he gently disclosed the lips of that luscious mouth of nature.”

3. Obscene.

   “Hitherto I had been indebted only to the girls of the house for the corruption of my innocence: their luscious talk, in which modesty was far from respected.”