sex appeal
- noun
- /sɛks əˈpɛl/
- NSFW
- The fashion model's sex appeal was evident in every photo shoot.
- exudes sex appeal
- a lot of sex appeal
- lack of sex appeal
And obviously sex appeal in athletes puts asses in the seats.
- And obviously sex appeal in athletes puts asses in the seats.
- In many places, young women associate smoking with some kind of glamour, some kind of sex appeal.
- You're like you've got this wild sex appeal in it and you're like an old movie star where you cannot stop staring at you.
- Well, anyway, let's go back to the question of sex appeal, for one.
- And that is, or good scientists, but it's, it's think that investing has more sex appeal for a lot of people.
- If you have attractiveness and sex appeal and all that, you have more power. So I think one of the most misunderstood words here is power.
- Fine, fine Dick head, whatever looks and sex appeal at the very bottom.
Examples
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In fact, since the introduction of music videos, there seems to be more emphasis on sex appeal than on musical ability.
Academic text (2004) -
And this is really important because it tells us that China has really been trying to reveal its sex appeal, so to speak.
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This is because she has sex appeal.
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And this sport is very much about a certain sex appeal.
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No, I have no sex appeal.
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But in addition, he believed he had some sex appeal left.
Fiction book (2000) -
How can you resist my sex appeal?
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Every woman wants to have a touch of sex appeal without seeming indecent.
Blog text (20) -
Obama has much more sex appeal and self-confidence about his masculinity.
Blog text (17) -
Legendary silent film star Clara Bow was so seductive that her on-screen sex appeal didn't even require her to speak.
Blog text (5)
Synonyms
An attractive face and appearance people notice
The quality that makes people notice and like someone's looks or character
A quality that makes someone seem attractive and causes people to want physical closeness
How attractive someone is to other people in a sexual way
A way someone looks or speaks that makes others feel attracted to them
A quality that makes people want something so much they cannot say no
Antonyms
How Attractive
- NSFW
- NSFW
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the quality of being sexually attractive' is directly and predictably built from 'sex' (the sexual domain) + 'appeal' (an attractive quality). This compositional noun+noun pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would very likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Sex appeal may come from joining sex (sexual quality) and appeal ('power to attract'). It creates the image of a person who naturally draws others for sexual reasons, so it means 'being sexually attractive'.