1. Referring to something which is meant to arouse people sexually: The explicit salacious content of the novel surprised Lynn and she thought it was too vulgar and lewd, so she threw it into the trash can.

There are times when people must decide whether a book is a work of literature or if it is merely a salacious publication.

2. Relating to a certain kind of moral looseness, obscene reports and lewd tales.The Los Angeles Unified School District board fired an elementary school teacher just hours after he was formally charged with three felony counts of salacious acts upon a girl under the age of 14, a school spokesman said.
3. Etymology: from Latin salax, salacis, "lustful"; probably originally "fond of leaping" as in a male animal leaping on a female, from salire, "to leap".