aphrodisiac

[ af-ruh-dee-ze-ak, -diz-ee-ak ]

/ ˌæf rəˈdi zɛˌæk, -ˈdɪz iˌæk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR aphrodisiac ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

Also aph·ro·di·si·a·cal

[af-ruh-duh-zahy-uh-kuh l, -sahy-] /ˌæf rə dəˈzaɪ ə kəl, -ˈsaɪ-/. arousing sexual desire.

noun

an aphrodisiac food, drug, potion, or other agent that arouses sexual desire.

Nearby words

aphoristic, aphorize, aphotic, aphrasia, aphrodisia, aphrodisiac, aphrodite, aphrodite terra, aphtha, aphthae, aphthae majores

Origin of aphrodisiac

1710–20; < Greek aphrodīsiakós relating to love or desire, equivalent to aphrodī́si(os) of Aphrodite + -akos -ac

Related forms

an·ti·aph·ro·dis·i·ac, adjective, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for aphrodisiac

Expensive real estate is an aphrodisiac for girls like Claire, Walter notes.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Feb. 4, 2013|Jimmy So, G. Clay Whittaker, Tunku Varadarajan|February 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Power is an aphrodisiac, Henry Kissinger famously said, but it is clearly also a great skin cream.
Guess Who's 60 Now?|Susan Cheever|June 27, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Those three dead men on the thirteenth floor of that office building had acted like an aphrodisiac on Wilson Lamb.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
There appears to be no evidence in the case of either the lower animals or the human subject that the drug is an aphrodisiac.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3|Various

For I, too, wrote at first to amuse myself with aphrodisiac statements.
L-bas|J. K. Huysmans
Her person exhaled an aphrodisiac charm, which challenged and laid fast hold of the other sex.
Germinie Lacerteux|Edmond and Jules de Goncourt
From out of almost innumerable instances of the efficacy of flagellation as an aphrodisiac, the following are selected.
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-aphrodisiacs: Three Essays on the Powers of Reproduction|John Davenport

British Dictionary definitions for aphrodisiac

aphrodisiac

/ (ˌæfrəˈdɪzɪæk) /

noun

a drug, food, etc, that excites sexual desire

adjective

exciting or heightening sexual desire

Word Origin for aphrodisiac

C18: from Greek aphrodisiakos, from aphrodisios belonging to Aphrodite

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for aphrodisiac

aphrodisiac

[ ăf′rə-dĭz′ē-ăk′, -dē′zē- ]

adj.

Arousing, increasing, or intensifying sexual desire.

n.

An aphrodisiac drug or food.

Related forms

aph′ro•di•si′a•cal (-dĭ-zī′ĭ-kəl) adj.

Culture definitions for aphrodisiac

aphrodisiac

[ (af-ruh-dee-zee-ak, af-ruh-diz-ee-ak) ]

A substance or quality that excites sexual desire.

Note

Aphrodisiacs are named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.