nubile
Americanadjective
-
(of a young woman) suitable for marriage, especially in regard to age or physical development; marriageable.
-
(of a young person, usually a woman) sexually developed and attractive.
the nubile girls in their bikinis.
adjective
-
ready or suitable for marriage by virtue of age or maturity
-
sexually attractive
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nubile
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin nūbilis, equivalent to nūb(ere) “to marry” + -ilis adjective suffix; see nuptial, -ile
Explanation
Nubile is a word for young women who are attractive and "suitable for marriage" (which honestly sounds sort of chauvinistic). Feminist idealism aside, nubile is a flattering term for a gal. It means youthful and sexy. Nubile stems from an ancient Latin term which meant "marriageable." While nice young men are certainly marriageable, the term is solely used in relation to women, and now refers to their ripe sexy beauty, not necessarily qualities that could make them a dependable, loving wife. Nubile is used more now in describing a gal who is hot and sexy — more ideal for the hip-hop video shoot, not co-hosting your family for Thanksgiving.
Vocabulary lists containing nubile
100 SAT Words Beginning with "N"
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"Pitch Perfect," Vocabulary from the movie
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The Blind Side
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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.
This is the clunker: Confetti falls from the ceiling, and Odenkirk and his co-host David Cross are surrounded not by nubile women but by unkempt, grinning nerds with annoying questions.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2015
She points out a weird new kind of equality in that, instead of lessening the pressure on women to be young and nubile, Hollywood is simply heaping more on young male actors.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 26, 2015
Sun-loving saplings, blackberries and greenbriers wrapped their nubile tendrils around the opportunity, tangling with one another in thick knots as they scaled toward the light.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 1, 2014
The story of Tevye, the milkman of a small village in czarist Russia around the time of the pogroms, his nagging wife and his nubile daughters, is a modest affair requiring intimate treatment.
From Time Magazine Archive
To call the moths of the countryside to the wedding-feast, to warn them at a distance and to guide them the nubile female emits an odour of extreme subtlety, imperceptible to our own olfactory sense-organs.
From Social Life in the Insect World by Bernard Miall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
