sultry

[ suhl-tree ]

/ ˈsʌl tri /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: sultry / sultriness on Thesaurus.com

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR sultry

1 oppressive, stifling, humid.

See synonyms for sultry on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of sultry

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

OTHER WORDS FROM sultry

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use sultry in a sentence

For that, we have Ashunta Sheriff-Kendricks to thank, Henson’s go-to makeup artist responsible for that sultry beat that we’ll surely be talking about all season.
Taraji P. Henson’s AMA Makeup Look Had To Complement A Whopping 10 Outfit Changes|cmurray|November 23, 2020|Essence.com
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
We expected a certain amount of sultriness, but not in such lavish prodigality as it was delivered.
In Africa|John T. McCutcheon
The night was dark,—no moon being visible,—and an oppressive sultriness was in the atmosphere.
Through Apache Lands|R. H. Jayne

Isis goes to Byblos; she arrives there fatigued with sultriness, thirst, and the toilsome, stony road.
Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity|Alexandre Kuprin
The prisoner herself seemed happily to be quite fresh and not affected by the sultriness of the day.
The Bride of the Nile, Complete|Georg Ebers
Upon him and his mother lay the sultriness of a brewing tempest.
The Burning Secret|Stefan Zweig

British Dictionary definitions for sultry

sultry

/ (ˈsʌltrɪ) /

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 forms of sultry

sultrily, 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

sultry

OTHER WORDS FOR sultry

Origin of sultry

OTHER WORDS FROM sultry

Words related to sultry

How to use sultry in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sultry

Derived forms of sultry

Word Origin for sultry