arm candy

American  

Slang.

1. a very attractive person who accompanies someone on a date, as at a public event, but is not romantically involved with that person.

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Etymology

Origin of arm candy

1990–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

arm candy

I was recently in New Orleans, where I was on a walking tour with a woman and her husband; he was wearing a T-shirt that read, "It's not easy being my wife's arm candy."

From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2023

The music informed fashion and movies and defined how Generation X presented itself; it also moved rock away from hair metal’s depiction of women as bikini-clad arm candy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2021

Were we just weeks away from Melinda being photographed with Hollywood’s current go-to male arm candy, Pete Davidson?

From Slate ● May 4, 2021

Kristoff and an oily prince called Hans yap about, gesturing at being the hero, before winding up as arm candy for Anna, an irrelevance to Elsa.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 9, 2019

They have been treated like fakes and posers and interlopers and arm candy.

From The Verge ● Dec. 21, 2017