sultry

[suhl-tree]

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adjective, sul·tri·er, sul·tri·est.

oppressively hot and close or moist; sweltering: a sultry day.

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.

RELATED WORDS

humidity, dampness, oppressiveness

Nearby words

Origin of sultry

1585–95; sult(e)r (variant of swelter) + -y¹

SYNONYMS FOR sultry

1. oppressive, stifling, humid.

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Related formssul·tri·ly, adverbsul·tri·ness, nounun·sul·try, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sultriness

With Perl in particular, a former makeup artist, there is a sultriness to her metallic eye shadow and her painted lips.
The Sisterhood of Bulletproof Stockings: It’s Ladies’ Night for Hasidic Rockers|Emily Shire|September 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A cool freshness had succeeded the sultriness of the day, and she had perhaps not gone out till late.
Mary Seaham, Volume 1 of 3|Elizabeth Caroline Grey
The path grew narrower and steeper, and the flower scents and the sultriness made it like walking in a hothouse.
The Lost Prince|Frances Hodgson Burnett
She had seen them day after day thinly lined on the dead sky, inviting thunder and doomed to sultriness.
The Tragic Comedians, Complete|George Meredith

What with the dancing and the sultriness of the weather, the night was about as hot as an oven.
Johnny Ludlow. First Series|Mrs. Henry Wood
With the south-east aerial current comes heat and sultriness.
The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume II (of 2), 1869-1873|David Livingstone

British Dictionary definitions for sultriness

sultry

adjective -trier or -triest

(of weather or climate) oppressively hot and humid

characterized by or emitting oppressive heat

displaying or suggesting passion; sensualsultry eyes

Derived Formssultrily, adverbsultriness, noun

Word Origin for sultry

C16: from obsolete sulter to swelter + -y 1

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

Word Origin and History for sultriness

sultry

adj.

1590s, "oppressively hot, close and moist" (of weather), from obsolete verb sulter "to swelter" (1580s), alteration of swelter. Figurative sense of "hot with lust" is attested from 1704; of women, "lascivious, sensual, arousing desire" it is recorded from 1940.