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  What it means

  Literally “house of debauchery” — a euphemistic and somewhat archaic term for a brothel. “Rozpusta” refers to moral dissolution, licentiousness, or debauchery, and “dom” simply means house or home. In older Polish literature and historical writing, the phrase is the standard euphemism for a place of prostitution. Today it sounds old-fashioned and is more likely to appear in historical novels, period films, or ironic usage than in everyday speech. It can also be used hyperbolically — calling any chaotic, disorderly place a “dom rozpusty.”

  Vocabulary

  • dom — house, home
  • rozpusta — debauchery, licentiousness, moral dissolution
  • rozpusty — genitive singular of 'rozpusta' — of debauchery
  • rozwiązły — debauched, dissolute, licentious (related adjective)

  Grammar note

  The phrase uses a 'noun + genitive noun' construction: 'dom rozpusty' means 'house of debauchery,' with 'rozpusty' being the genitive singular of the feminine noun 'rozpusta.' This is a standard Polish pattern for characterizing a place by what it contains — compare 'dom kultury' (community center, literally 'house of culture') or 'dom starców' (old people's home).

  Cultural context

  The term reflects 19th- and early-20th-century Polish literary language, where direct words for prostitution were avoided in print. Today it sounds archaic and almost comically formal. In contemporary Polish, people would more likely say 'burdel' (slang, vulgar) or 'dom publiczny' (another euphemism). Historians and novelists writing about earlier periods reach for 'dom rozpusty' to capture the flavor of the era.

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