sexy

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.sɪ/
  • (General American) enPR: sĕkʹsē, IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.si/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛksi

Etymology 1

From sex + -y.

Adjective

sexy (comparative sexier, superlative sexiest)

  1. Having sex appeal; attractive.
    Synonyms: hot, arousing, (archaic) concupiscible
    The participants in the swimsuit competition are all very sexy.
    She has a sexy voice!
    • 1978, “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”, in Blondes Have More Fun, performed by Rod Stewart:
      If you want my body and you think I'm sexy / Come on sugar let me know
  2. (of a thing or concept) Intriguing, appealing, likely to excite interest.
    The manufacturers have launched a sexy new car.
    We have some sexy ideas on how to improve sales.
    Being an undertaker is not a sexy career.
    • 2013, Kathy Casey, D'Lish Deviled Eggs, page 67:
      Creamy cheese, tangy-sweet peppers, and a hit of heat tango in this sexy deviled-egg combo.
    • 2020, Katja Brokke, “Amsterdam has been collapsing for years. Now it's paying the price”, in CNN Travel:
      "The management of the quay walls and bridges has lagged behind in recent decades because it was not given the political priority it deserves and it is not a sexy topic," says Dijksma.
  3. (rare) Sexual; relating to or involving sex.
    He didn't really like me; all he wanted was for me to be sexy with him.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations

Etymology 2

From Latin sex (six) + -y, intended as a pun.

Adjective

sexy (not comparable)

  1. (mathematics) Used to describe prime numbers that differ from each other by six.
    (73,79) is a sexy prime pair.
Derived terms

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English sexy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.si/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: sexy

Adjective

sexy (comparative sexyer, superlative sexyst)

  1. sexy
    Wij zijn buitengewoon sexy.
    We are extraordinarily sexy.

Inflection

Inflection of sexy
uninflected sexy
inflected sexy
comparative sexyer
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial sexysexyerhet sexyst
het sexyste
indefinite m./f. sing. sexysexyeresexyste
n. sing. sexysexyersexyste
plural sexysexyeresexyste
definite sexysexyeresexyste
partitive sexy'ssexyers

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English sexy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɛk.si/
  • (file)

Adjective

sexy (invariable)

  1. sexy

Further reading

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English sexy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈzɛksi/ (official standard but rarely used; usually considered overly formal or incorrect)
  • IPA(key): /ˈsɛksi/ (usual)
  • (file)

Adjective

sexy (strong nominative masculine singular sexyer, comparative sexyer, superlative am sexysten)

  1. sexy

Usage notes

  • In German, most people try to approximate the original pronunciations of many recently borrowed words, which is why there is even a term for this, Fremdwort, for which there is no real equivalent in English. In the case of the corresponding noun, Sex, a voiced beginning is considered even more outdated or incorrect than for the adjective sexy, and this voiced pronunciation is used and emphasized for sechs ("six") to clearly differentiate it.
  • The positive form is not inflected in standard usage: ein sexy Kleid. Inflected forms only occur in colloquial speech (ein sexyes Kleid), and only rarely.
  • The comparative has to be inflected when used before nouns. This is avoided in standard usage, which means that the comparative is rare except in predicative position. (Colloquial: Sie will ein sexyeres Kleid. / Sie will ein Kleid, das mehr sexy ist. Formal written: Die Kundin sucht ein Kleid, das sexyer ist. Formal spoken [since the ending of sexyer is hard to hear]: Die Kundin sucht ein Kleid, das mehr sexy ist.)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

  • sexy” in Duden online
  • sexy” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sexy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.si/[1]
  • Rhymes: -ɛksi
  • Hyphenation: sè‧xy

Adjective

sexy (invariable)

  1. sexy

Derived terms

References

  1. sexy in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English sexy.

Adjective

sexy (indeclinable)

  1. sexy

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English sexy.

Adjective

sexy (indeclinable)

  1. sexy

References

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sexy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.si/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛksi
  • Syllabification: se‧xy

Adjective

sexy (comparative bardziej sexy, superlative najbardziej sexy, no derived adverb)

  1. (colloquial) sexy (having sexual appeal)
    Synonym: seksowny

Adverb

sexy (comparative bardziej sexy, superlative najbardziej sexy)

  1. (colloquial) sexily
    Synonym: seksownie

Further reading

  • sexy in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • sexy in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sexy.

Pronunciation

  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.si/

  • (file)

Adjective

sexy (invariable)

  1. (of a person) sexy (having sexual appeal)
    Synonym: sensual

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:sexy.

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sexy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈseksi]

Adjective

sexy m or f or n (indeclinable)

  1. sexy
    Synonym: sexos

Declension

Spanish

Adjective

sexy m or f (masculine and feminine plural sexys) (or invariable)

  1. Alternative form of sexi

Further reading

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