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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.


Etymology

Origin of arm candy

1990–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

If I’d known I was just arm candy I’d have expected better birthday presents.

From Slate Jun. 15, 2020

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

From The Verge Dec. 21, 2017

It is a superior thriller, tense and twisty, and Cranston is predictably excellent, but Kruger is sharp and spirited, more than holding her own in a role that could easily have just been arm candy.

From The Guardian Sep. 11, 2016

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