sultry
Americanadjective
-
oppressively hot and close or moist; sweltering.
a sultry day.
- Synonyms:
- humid, stifling, oppressive
-
oppressively hot; emitting great heat.
the sultry sun.
-
characterized by or associated with sweltering heat.
sultry work in the fields.
-
characterized by or arousing passion.
sultry eyes.
adjective
-
(of weather or climate) oppressively hot and humid
-
characterized by or emitting oppressive heat
-
displaying or suggesting passion; sensual
sultry eyes
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sultry
Explanation
Stifling, humid and downright oppressive, sultry is an adjective that has everything to do with sweltering heat and a definite need for a tall glass of iced tea. You know how movies about the Old South always show people wilting in the shade of their front porches, mopping their damp brows? Well that's because of the sultry summer weather. A sultry atmosphere is a thick, almost swampy feeling. And all that heavy heat can certainly get passions stirring — "a sultry look" is one that happens to express steamy desire.
Vocabulary lists containing sultry
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Term-ometer: Synonyms for "Hot"
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
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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.
See Examples For:
It also features sparkling cameos from Penélope Cruz as a sultry cabaret dancer and Glenn Close as a Spanish-speaking American professor.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
After that came the singer’s dreamiest hit, “Somewhere Over Laredo,” and an especially sultry take on “Watermelon Moonshine,” the nostalgia-drunk love song from 2023 that’s probably still her finest moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026
After an opening salvo of rap-centric tracks, Swim was moody and sultry, with flowing choreography that underscored its message of persevering in choppy waters.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
Porter originally wrote it as a sultry bolero, but Sinatra and Riddle supercharge it into one of the singer’s most celebrated uptempo showcases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
The air was not so stale and sultry in the room as it was downstairs.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Van Morrison’s Moondance, despite being constantly wrung out by classic-rock radio and adult-contemporary stations alike, still evokes the possibility offered by summertime’s shorter, sultrier nights.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 14, 2015
Instead of the night becoming cooler it had grown sultrier, and in places the walk was fairly packed with human beings.
From Ben Blair The Story of a Plainsman by Will Lillibridge
The hours slipped by; the air grew stiller and sultrier.
From The History of David Grieve by Mrs. Humphry Ward
Then they turned back and the clouds were sultrier, low on the horizon, and the velvety darkness fell more thickly, like warm snow, and the ravelled tjemaras were fuller and blacker than before.
From The Hidden Force A Story of Modern Java by Louis Couperus
One evening it seemed hotter and sultrier than ever.
From Our Home in the Silver West A Story of Struggle and Adventure by Gordon Stables
Shout out to future “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson, who joined Journey for “Raised on Radio” and proceeded to lay down the slinkiest, sultriest, funkiest bass line the band had ever known.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The three hottest years in the past century have come in the past decade, and 1995 was the sultriest on record.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the sultriest weather this little arbor was cool and pleasant, and here Napoleon was in the habit of taking his books and papers when he wished to work out of doors.
From Napoleon's Young Neighbor by Helen Leah Reed
Consequently I gasped out something about its being the sultriest 47th of August in eighteen years, and plumped back into a chair opposite him.
From R. Holmes & Co. by John Kendrick Bangs
That Canyon was the sultriest place I have ever struck, and my experience includes some of the hottest sections this side of the equator.
From Ancient Chinese account of the Grand Canyon, or course of the Colorado by Alexander McAllan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
