racy
Americanadjective
-
racier,
comparative
-
raciest
superlative
adjective
-
(of a person's manner, literary style, etc) having a distinctively lively and spirited quality; fresh
-
having a characteristic or distinctive flavour
a racy wine
-
suggestive; slightly indecent; risqué
a racy comedy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of racy
Explanation
Something that's racy is zesty and exciting. The racy thriller you checked out of the library is so engrossing that you can't put it down, even at bedtime. You can use the adjective racy for things that are robust or full of flavor, especially wine. It's also a good way to describe zesty, thrilling things, like racy movie plots, as well as things that are bawdy or verge on inappropriate, like the racy videos that are blocked on your school's computers. This word comes from an old meaning of race, "flavor."
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:
“The Idol” was as racy as “Euphoria” but rife with creative issues as the original director left and Levinson took over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
ABC as a broadcast network is held to higher standard than it's streaming partner Hulu due to oversight by the federal regulator and advertisers, who may be skittish when it comes to racy programming.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026
R&B star Ashanti finally addressed racy remarks made by estranged Murder Inc. producer Irv Gotti, who said they dated and who spent years discrediting her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2023
While the film will especially appeal to LGBTQ+ viewers, its moving human story and racy plot has something for everyone, Freeman said.
From Reuters ● Feb. 24, 2023
Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
While the racier pastimes of stuffing tigers or describing plant genitalia were off-limits to the “gentler sex”, it was socially acceptable for women to go “seaweeding”.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 27, 2020
The current iteration is sometimes racier than usual, but who can’t help enjoying the Lopez Troupe riding bicycles on a high wire or Jayson Dominguez surviving the Wheel of Death?
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2020
He was touched that she gave him half of her lunch, and that she lent him books, although he had racier tastes.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2017
Vitter’s aides said the legislation has been tweaked to make clear that the new rules address “fully enclosed” vehicles, meaning the Elio and not its racier cousins.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 5, 2015
The gallant ease, the natural gayety, the charming manners that charmed no less for a clear trace of mannerism, were a peculiar refreshment after society racier of Riverina soil.
From Stingaree by E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
Prince had become a Jehovah’s Witness around 2001, and had stopped playing his raciest hits.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 2, 2019
The raciest bets that foreigners have made are on the bonds of policy banks, such as the China Development Bank, and on short-term paper issued by biggish provincial banks.
From Economist ● Jun. 28, 2018
This book of Esther reads like the breeziest, raciest fiction, and some of it may be just that.
From Time ● Jun. 13, 2013
Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images An Italian news bulletin on a network owned by disgraced former prime minister Silvio Berluconi has chided the Venice film festival for putting on its raciest lineup in many years.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 21, 2012
And I say, Black Mary straight up and then I get to laughing at myself, setting in my kitchen having this daydream, cause the raciest thing I ever take is the purple Nehi.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
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.
