sexy

sexy — adjective

1. Describes a person whose appearance, voice, or way of moving makes other people

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

Describes a person whose appearance, voice, or way of moving makes other people feel sexual desire or attraction.

Example

Eli found his new neighbour incredibly sexy, but he was too shy to tell her.

collocation: incredibly sexy

Aylin wore a long red dress that her partner said looked very sexy on her.

Common collocations
  • look sexy
  • feel sexy
  • sexy dress
  • sexy voice
  • sexy smile
Synonyms
  • attractive

    Much broader — can describe anything pleasing to look at, not only sexually

  • hot

    Informal and stronger than 'sexy', common in casual speech

  • alluring

    Suggests a mysterious or magical power to attract, more literary

  • gorgeous

    Emphasises beauty more than sexual desire; often used for appearance in general

Antonyms
  • ugly

    Extreme opposite; describes someone very unpleasant to look at

  • unattractive

    Neutral opposite; not pleasing to look at

Common Mistakes

She is very sexy and she is also a doctor.
She is very attractive and she is also a doctor.
In formal or professional writing, 'sexy' is often too direct; use 'attractive' or 'good-looking' instead.
He felt sexy after winning the race.
He felt proud and excited after winning the race.
'sexy' describes the quality that causes attraction in others, not a person's own feeling of pride or energy.

2. Describes something such as a product, idea, career, or opportunity that people

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

Describes something such as a product, idea, career, or opportunity that people find very exciting and attractive, even though it has nothing to do with sexual feelings.

Example

The new phone design is not just practical — it is genuinely sexy.

Hui heard that working in artificial intelligence is a sexy career right now.

collocation: sexy career

Common collocations
  • sexy career
  • sexy proposal
  • sexy idea
  • sexy deal
  • sexy product
Synonyms
  • exciting

    General and neutral; works in both formal and informal contexts

  • appealing

    Suggests something is attractive in a broad, pleasant way

  • hot

    Informal like 'sexy', used for popular trends or products

  • trendy

    Focuses on being fashionable at a particular time

Antonyms
  • boring

    Describes something that does not interest anyone

  • uninteresting

    Neutral opposite; not worth attention

Usage Note

This sense is informal and most common in business, technology, and media contexts. It is rarely used in formal writing or academic essays.

Common Mistakes

This new software update is very sexy.
This new software update is very impressive / exciting.
'Sexy' in this sense is too informal for professional or technical documentation; use 'exciting', 'appealing', or 'impressive' instead.

Word family

  • sex
    nounA2
  • sexiness
    nounB2
  • sexily
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Sexy is more direct about sexual attraction than attractive, which is much broader and can describe anything pleasing to look at. Alluring suggests a mysterious, almost hypnotic power to attract — it is more literary than sexy. Hot is an informal, stronger version of sexy, common in casual speech among younger speakers. Appealing is the gentlest and most general of the four: you can describe a person as appealing without any romantic or sexual meaning at all. For example: 'She looked appealing in a simple white shirt' (neutral, pleasant) vs. 'She looked hot in that tight black dress' (strongly sexual and informal).

attractive ↗alluringhot ↗appealing ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Sexy comes from the noun sex (from Latin sexus, meaning 'the state of being male or female') combined with the adjective-forming suffix -y, which means 'having the quality of'. The word first appeared in English writing in the late 1800s and became widely used in the 1900s. Its non-sexual meaning, 'exciting or interesting', developed in business and media contexts in the late 1900s.