sex appeal

See synonyms for sex appeal on Thesaurus.com

noun

the ability to excite people sexually.
immediate appeal or obvious potential to interest or excite others, as by appearance, style, or charm: a house with no sex appeal.

Origin of sex appeal

First recorded in 1920–25

Words Nearby sex appeal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sex appeal in a sentence

Over the decades, study authors have identified a general lean toward facial symmetry, but that doesn’t mean it’s the sole measure of sex appeal.
What’s the secret to sexiness? | Erin Blakemore | September 16, 2021 | Popular-Science
It breathed this kind of new electricity into the campaign, but also a lot of sex appeal.
Why Padma Lakshmi Won’t Be Running for Office | Pallabi Munsi | December 28, 2020 | Ozy
Spirituality, after all, is not as marketable as sex appeal, so maybe the media-savvy McCarthy is exposing a true vulnerability.
Jenny McCarthy: I Am Not Anti-Vaccine | Lloyd Grove | October 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
She gave him sex appeal, and he gave her a place to work out what being The Body could mean.
Scarlett Johansson Vs. the Faceless Men of Color | Teo Bugbee | July 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
All-American, with just enough sex appeal to maintain the magnetism.
Are We in the Midst of a Kevin Costner Comeback? | Andrew Romano | January 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

This is the place where automakers show off brawn, power, and sex appeal.
Detroit’s Green Leap Forward Pulls In to New York Auto Show | Daniel Gross | March 29, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
How do you feel about being called a ‘grandmother with sex appeal?’
Carine Roitfeld Exclusive Interview About CR Fashion Book | Isabel Wilkinson | September 6, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Nothing wrong when great magazines print no page or picture without its sex appeal?
The Call of the Canyon | Zane Grey
To make it worse, Jack had gone on in his story with some stuff about captive princesses just for the sake of sex appeal.
Pieces of Hate | Heywood Broun
This would enable us to develop a tropical love interest and get a sex appeal into the story.
Pieces of Hate | Heywood Broun
In the full noontide of her beauty and allurement, she was well equipped with what the modern jargon calls sex-appeal.
The Magnificent Montez | Horace Wyndham
They don't appear there for sex appeal, or to win admiration.
Samantha on the Woman Question | Marietta Holley

British Dictionary definitions for sex appeal

sex appeal

noun

the quality or power of attracting someone sexually

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

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