to sex up
1
8.4
- phrasal verb
- /sɛks ʌp/
- NSFW
:
sexualizar
- Smeesters did not just sex up his data.
- the dossier was sexed up
Examples
-
The producers decided to sex up the film by adding more dramatic scenes and steamy romance.
-
Randal, using the bodies of women to "sex up" the image of your product by association is crass, confronting, demeaning, exclusionary, and insulting to the intelligence of your much-vaunted male clientele.
Blog text (11) -
After all, if the government would "sex up" the reasons for getting into the war, why would it tell the truth about how the war was prosecuted?
Academic text (2017) -
A source in the Intelligence Service told Andrew Gilligan that the government asked Intelligence to sex up the dossier on Saddam's weapon capabilities.
Academic text (2017) -
To attract more viewers, the magazine struggled to sex up its articles with eye-catching headlines.
-
The advertising team worked hard to sex up the campaign by using provocative imagery and catchy slogans.
Synonyms
13
7.5
To make people think of someone or something in terms of sex
2
9.1
To make something seem sexual to attract attention
How Sexual
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to make something more sexually attractive or more exciting' is directly compositional from 'sex' (sexual content) plus the particle 'up' (to increase or intensify). This follows a common English pattern (X + up = make more X / intensify) and is conceptually similar to cross-linguistic forms like 'sexualize', so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the meaning, albeit noting the expression is informal.
Etymology
Sex up is a phrase that comes from the image of putting sex up on something, like adding sexual or flashy parts to it. That's why to sex up a story or an ad means to add suggestive details to make it 'more sexually attractive' or 'more exciting'.