Skip to main content
Lolita

Lolita

15 9.8
A young girl who acts in a sexual way to attract older men
  • noun
  • /loʊˈliːtə/
  • Offensive
translation icon : ninfeta
  • She was often called a Lolita for her flirtatious behavior around older men.

Examples

  • I picked out a polka-dot midriff for authenticity because that's what Lolita is wearing when Humbert first catches sight of her.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • She's reading Lolita.

  • - And what do they call you, Lolita?

  • - You were out with Lolita.

  • Well, sometimes people call me Lo, but my really real name is Lolita.

  • If Warren wants me out of town so he can chase Lolita, so be it.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Actually, you guys go look up Lolita Price; she looks just like Aaliyah.

    Blog text (16)
  • Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita provides an excellent exposition of some of the attitudes that allow abuse to happen.

    Blog text (15)
  • And of course, what's most essential in Lolita, Blight of my life, Fire of my loins, is entirely Nabokov's.

  • Sexualized images of younger adolescents abound in advertising and pornography, and the Lolita figure is well known in literature and film.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

sweet young thing
vsLolita
  • Offensive
2 8.2

An attractive young woman often talked about in a kind way or as less grown-up

carries sexual precociousness and appeal to older men rather than gentle affection
nymphet
vsLolita
  • Offensive
2 9.9

A young girl shown as attractive to adults in a sexual way

focuses more on being seen as attractive to older men rather than general appeal
nymphette
vsLolita
  • Offensive
9.9

A young girl in stories shown as sexually attractive to older men

is used more broadly to stress attraction to older men rather than only literature
loli
vsLolita
  • Offensive
9.9

An anime or manga girl character who looks like a child

applies instead to a young person viewed as sexually precocious by older adults

Surface Forms

Lolita singular
Lolitai plural

Etymology

Lolita comes from the title of a famous novel by Vladimir Nabokov about a young girl nicknamed Lola and called Lolita. The Spanish ending -ita means 'little', so the name came to mean a young girl seen as sexually attractive to older men.