sexualize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to make or become sexual or sexually aware
-
to give or acquire sexual associations
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sexualize
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:
Kids find feet goofy and funny, he said, and there was no effort to sexualize his young stars.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2021
This tornado of influences led her to create a retro, Old World, earthy collection that refuses to sexualize the female form while also playing on traditional femininity.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2018
It was about gender equality and teaching people not to sexualize women’s bodies.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 17, 2016
“This shift aims to ensure that no person, male or female, has to be explicitly sexualized in the future.”
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2024
“There’s something here about how people consume media and how things get decontextualized and sexualized, whether or not that’s what the creator intended,” she said.
From New York Times ● Jul. 17, 2023
"What a ridiculous, ridiculous question," Lee said when asked if he recalled dressing in drag in 1977, "conflating something like that to sexualized entertainment in front of children, which is a very, very serious subject."
From Reuters ● Feb. 28, 2023
For us Latinas it’s great because she’s not sexualized in any way — she’s just smart because she’s smart.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 19, 2022
It’s not sexualized; it’s not graphic to be graphic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2022
The handmade stoneware tiles of Florencia Rothschild at Wishbone honor femininity and self-care in mural-like assemblages of nudes engaging in yoga, Pilates and rest, foregrounding the human form without sexualizing it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
“If you took any of these books and replaced the characters with straight characters, nobody would accusing anyone of sexualizing their kids or teaching them bad morality,” Harris later said in an interview.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2023
The only people sexualizing drag, Samson said, are the people who are opposed to its existence.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2022
RELATED: Natalia Dyer criticizes media for sexualizing "Stranger Things" kids: "I feel protective over them"
From Salon ● May 19, 2022
Facebook announced Wednesday that it would start removing “severe sexualizing content” targeting public figures as part of a new update to its bullying and harassment policies.
From The Verge ● Oct. 13, 2021
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.
