Meanings
nounsex worker (plural sex workers)
plural sex workers · alternative abbreviation SW · alternative abbreviation SWer
- A person who supplies sex work (short-term sexual services) in exchange for compensation.
Most official attempts to monitor the health of sex workers have been designed to protect clients and society
1995. Lesley Doyal, "What makes women sick: gender and the political economy of health", Page 2263 more examples
Like the scripted scenarios mouthed by sex workers on 1-900 porn lines, our sexual language has become stilted and rehearsed.
1993 October, Michael Bronski, “The Lost Language of Desire”, in Gay Community News, page 12Many were initiated into sex work through friends who were already sex workers, but others took the initiative themselves.
1999. Peter Aggleton, "Men who sell sex: international perspectives on male prostitution", Page 44In an unusual move, Florida prosecutors charged not only the sex workers advertised on the Web site, but also the Web site owners and registered users of the site.
2010. Marshall Barron Clinard, Robert F. Meier, "Sociology of Deviant Behavior", Page 350
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Translations
Arabic عامل بالجنس, عاملة بالجنس
- عامل بالجنسperson who supplies sexual services for money
- عاملة بالجنسperson who supplies sexual services for money
Bengali যৌনকর্মী
- যৌনকর্মী (jōunokormi)person who supplies sexual services for money
Catalan treballador sexual, treballadora sexual
- treballador sexualperson who supplies sexual services for money
- treballadora sexualperson who supplies sexual services for money
Chinese Mandarin 性工作者
- 性工作者 (xìnggōngzuòzhě)person who supplies sexual services for money
Danish sexarbejder
- sexarbejderperson who supplies sexual services for money
Dutch sekswerker
- sekswerkerperson who supplies sexual services for money
Esperanto sekslaboristo, amoristo
- sekslaboristoperson who supplies sexual services for money
- amoristoperson who supplies sexual services for money
- amoristinoperson who supplies sexual services for money
Finnish seksityöntekijä
- seksityöntekijäperson who supplies sexual services for money
French travailleur du sexe, travailleuse du sexe
- travailleur du sexeperson who supplies sexual services for money
- travailleuse du sexeperson who supplies sexual services for money
German Sexarbeiter, Sexarbeiterin
- Sexarbeiterperson who supplies sexual services for money
- Sexarbeiterinperson who supplies sexual services for money
Greek σεξεργάτης, σεξεργάτρια
- σεξεργάτης (sexergátis)person who supplies sexual services for money
- σεξεργάτρια (sexergátria)person who supplies sexual services for money
Hindi सेक्स वर्कर
- सेक्स वर्कर (seks varkar)person who supplies sexual services for money
Hungarian szexmunkás
- szexmunkásperson who supplies sexual services for money
Irish oibrí gnéis
- oibrí gnéisperson who supplies sexual services for money
Japanese セックスワーカー
- セックスワーカー (sekkusu wākā)person who supplies sexual services for money
Korean 성 근로자
- 성 근로자 (seong geulloja)person who supplies sexual services for money
Norwegian Bokmål sexarbeider
- sexarbeiderperson who supplies sexual services for money
Polish pracownik seksualny, pracownica seksualna
- pracownik seksualnyperson who supplies sexual services for money
- pracownica seksualnaperson who supplies sexual services for money
- sex workerperson who supplies sexual services for money
- sex workerkaperson who supplies sexual services for money
Portuguese trabalhador sexual
- trabalhador sexualperson who supplies sexual services for money
Romanian lucrător sexual, lucrătoare sexuală
- lucrător sexualperson who supplies sexual services for money
- lucrătoare sexualăperson who supplies sexual services for money
Russian рабо́тник се́кс-би́знеса, рабо́тница се́кс-би́знеса
- рабо́тник се́кс-би́знеса (rabótnik sɛ́ks-bíznɛsa)person who supplies sexual services for money
- рабо́тница се́кс-би́знеса (rabótnica sɛ́ks-bíznɛsa)person who supplies sexual services for money
Spanish trabajadora sexual, trabajador sexual
- trabajadora sexualperson who supplies sexual services for money
- trabajador sexualperson who supplies sexual services for money
- sexoservidoraperson who supplies sexual services for money
- sexoservidorperson who supplies sexual services for money
Swahili mfanyakazi wa ngono
- mfanyakazi wa ngonoperson who supplies sexual services for money
Swedish sexarbetare
- sexarbetareperson who supplies sexual services for money
Turkish seks işçisi
- seks işçisiperson who supplies sexual services for money
Vietnamese gái mại dâm, gái làm tiền
- gái mại dâmperson who supplies sexual services for money
- gái làm tiềnperson who supplies sexual services for money
- gái điếmperson who supplies sexual services for money
- gái đứng đườngperson who supplies sexual services for money
Cite this entry
APA
sex worker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sex%20worker
MLA
“sex worker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sex%20worker. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sex worker,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sex%20worker.
Source: sex worker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.